U.S. students’ academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries

How do American students compare with their counterparts from all over the world? Recently published data on international math and science assessments show that students in the United States continue to be at the center of the package and behind many other advanced industrialized countries.

One of the most important tests is the transnational international student assessment program (PISA) which, every three years, measures reading, math and science skills and other key skills in 15-year-olds in developed countries and Developing dozens. PISA's latest results, starting in 2015, place the 38th United States out of 71 countries in math and 24 in science. Of the 35 members of the Organization for Cooperation and Development sponsoring the PISA initiative, the United States is ranked 30 in mathematics and 19 in science.

Younger American students are doing slightly better in a similar transnational assessment, Mathematics Trends study and International Studies. This study, known as the TIMSS, has tested students in four and eight years, every four years since 1995. In the latest tests, as of 2015, 10 countries (48 in total), while seven countries had The results in higher average sciences. In the eighth year of testing, seven of the 37 countries had statistically average math scores higher than those in the United States and seven had higher scientific scores.

Another long-term test effort is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a project of the Federal Department of Education. In the most recent NAEP results, as of 2015, math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders fell for the first time since 1990. The Rutgers University analysis team of NAEP data to try to Identify the reasons for lower mathematics.

The average NAEP fourth grade mathematics score in 2015 was 240 (on a scale of 0 to 500), the same level as in 2009 and below 242 in 2013. The average score in the eighth was 282 in 2015 , Compared to 285 in 2013; This score was the lowest since 2007. (The NAEP has only tested grade 12 math four times since 2005, the average score in 2015 of 152 on a scale of 0 to 300 was less than a point in 2013 and 2009 .)

As an alternative, the NAEP 2015 has evaluated 40% of fourth grade students, 33% of eighth grade students and 25% of grade 12 as "proficient" or "advanced" in math. Although many fewer fourth- and eighth-graders remained in "below-basic" lower performance (18% and 29%, respectively, compared to 50% and 48% in 1990), the improvement of higher levels Seems to have stalled. (Between 12 degrees, 38% received the lowest score in math, one point less than in 2005.)

NAEP also assesses American students in science, but not so regularly, and the limited results available indicate some improvements. Between 2009 and 2015, the average scores for fourth and eight levels of students increased from 150 to 154 (on a scale of 0 to 300), but for students in grade 12, the score remained at 150. By 2015 38 % Of fourth grade students, 34% of eighth grade students, and 22% of 12th grade students scored a jurisdiction or competence in science; 24% of fourth grade students, 32% of eighth grade students and 40% of 12 grade were considered "below grade."

These results probably do not surprise many people. In a report from the Pew Research Center in 2015, only 29% of Americans rated K-12 education in their countries in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM known as) above the world average or better . Scientists were even more critical: a supplementary survey of members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science revealed that only 16% called STEM Education K-12 in the United States the best or above average; 46%, on the contrary, said stem K-12 in the United States was inferior.