The media has not been shy about decrying the American education system. Internationally, scores have fallen for the better part of two decades. Just how bad is it? Let’s take a closer look and find the truth behind the veil.
Recent Results
International education data is sparsely collected, and depending on who presents the data, the results vary pretty wildly. Shanghai ranges from first to nineteenth, for example. So, averaging to the top tests and publications, you can at least get a spectrum of global rankings. Using that method, the U.S. is 16th in science and 23rd in math.
Reading scores cover dozens of languages and have reports so varied that international comparison is useless. The U.S. has fallen far from its dominant rankings of the early and mid-90s.
We’re going to get into the details and problems of these tests, but before we do, consider this final global statistic: the U.S., despite its unimpressive test scores, still ranks first in global competitiveness for its education system.
If you are unfamiliar with this metric, it means that the average U.S. student, while scoring far below the top countries, is still better off economically than those of any other country. More than anything else, it suggests that the international tests being used are poor indicators of success in higher education and the workforce.
Bush Era Reform
It was in the late 90s that the U.S. started to fall from top spots in education. Namely, students from Japan and Korea were consistently outscoring American students, but it was the rise of China that really put fire to the idea of major scholastic reform. In fear of an inescapable trend, the entire system was overhauled, and the end was a mix of results that turned the U.S. into a global spectrum of education success.
Sadly, evidence that came to light in the past five years shows that this reform was unnecessary. China was blatantly cheating to boost their scores, and they’ve continued to do so ever since.
In fact, since 2012, Chinese students in U.S. colleges have started an epidemic of flunking out. The students, with their artificially inflated scores, have largely proven unable to keep up in higher education, and as a result, most colleges across the country have had to revise their admissions process for prospects from China. We changed our system because China was cheating, how did that fair?
Success by State
It turns out, the U.S. is the best and worst country in the world for public education. If states were ranked independently in international reviews, the U.S. would hold the top three spots in the world.
On the other end, the U.S. would have 10 states that perform below the worst of developed countries, and this highlights the most important part about ranking U.S. education internationally. While some federal standards exist, education is implemented by 51 distinct school systems.
There is no “American education,” and the methodologies among the states are exactly as varied as their results. But, before you go throwing out international comparison or saying everyone just needs to copy the top states, there’s another important data set to consider.
Disparity by Demographic
This won’t surprise you, but it’s important to acknowledge. The poorest American students have the lowest test scores. Why is this worth mentioning? There are two reasons.
First, on international tests, the U.S. had the largest disparity between high and low scores, and the top U.S. students were the top in the world. Second, economic disparity in the U.S. is still sharply pronounced. Every major city has significant numbers of students in underfunded, underperforming schools, and there are enough that they drag down the national ratings.
This, by no means is a suggestion that these schools be further abandoned, but it partially explains why state performances line up the way they do. New Hampshire and Vermont have the top school districts in the country. They also have the highest rations of high-income families.
It turns out, if you want to get a better picture for which systems are doing the best job, you need to do more than look at the raw numbers. The international tests can give you a starting point, but comparing statewide education budgets and proportions of students who are in families that struggle financially informs the data.
Final Verdict
With ten different states scoring lower than the developed world, things definitely need to change, but maybe copying Scandinavia isn’t the answer everyone wants to think it is. Comparing states properly can enable us to steal effective domestic systems that are more likely to work.
Above all, data strongly suggests that improving the economy will do more to help American education than changing the classrooms through new systems and regulations, and on that front, the newly-elected president is off to a great start.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
