Paul Mirengoff
Power Line
1/10/2011
We frequently read about how poorly the United States does when it comes to K-12 education. Our educational system is said, based on this or that study, to be lagging behind those of other developed nations, thus placing our economic competitiveness at risk.
As with certain other metrics through which the U.S. is sometimes compared unfavorably to other countries, I always wonder whether the comparisons that find our education system lacking are “apples to apples.” In other words, do they compare how well various countries educate similarly situated populations?
Robert Samuelson sheds some light on this question in the context of a recent study of the reading skills of 15 year olds in 65 school systems around the world. It shows U.S. students doing slightly above average among the 34 relatively wealthy nations in the study. We’re well behind Shanghai and South Korea, and we trail Japan and Belgium as well. But we’re slightly ahead of France, Germany, and Great Britain.
However, the picture looks different if one examines the American scores by race and ethnicity…
The article continues at Power Line.
