You may have heard about the test scores of American 15-year-olds in an international test called Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Scan several newspapers or websites and the quick takeaway is that the test results:
a) auger ominous things for the nation鈥檚 future
b) reveal that our 黄色apps are doing a bad job
c) show that education reforms like NCLB and Race to the Top have been a colossal failure
d) prove American students are doing quite well given our poverty levels
e) mean diddly-squat because there are too many variables
f) some weird combination of the above
To an outside eye, PISA results function like a modern-day Delphic oracle. Believers put great stake in their power to predict the future and reveal deep truths. Skeptics dismiss them as Kabuki theater or worse 鈥� part of a campaign to turn citizens against public 黄色apps. Either way, the tests are subject to such widely divergent interpretations it can make you feel you鈥檙e back in 黄色app sweating over one of those standardized test questions that can鈥檛 be answered by a, b, c, or d.
First the facts nobody disputes
Every three years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tests a representative selection of a few thousand 15-year-olds in 65 nations and a number of regional entities (such as Shanghai and Florida) in math, science, and reading. Since it was first offered to 32 countries in 2000, PISA has become increasingly influential both as a badge of national pride (or shame) and as an informational crowbar to push education reform.
So where does America stand?
According to the just-released 2012 PISA results, U.S. students are standing… still. Our test results have not changed since PISA results were first announced a decade ago. We fall into the average bucket in reading and science when compared to other industrialized nations, but below average in math, where our scores are on par with lower-performing nations like Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Russia. What鈥檚 particularly alarming is that our standing is falling, since many other nations are improving while the U.S. treads water.
This means that America not only ranks behind top-performing Asian economies like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, and affluent western nations like Finland, Estonia, and Canada 鈥� but some poorer nations like Poland and Vietnam.
This year three U.S. states 鈥� Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Florida 鈥� also took the test and their scores reflect steep differences in state-to-state education performance. Massachusetts, which is known to have not only the highest education standards in the country but also a population with a relatively high socioeconomic level, ranked above average in math, just about the same as Belgium and Germany. Connecticut students also performed above average. But Florida, which has a more diverse population, ranked below average in math 鈥� on the same level as long-suffering Greece.
Isn鈥檛 it all just about poverty?
Yes and no. There is a marked achievement gap between poorer and richer kids in the U.S., as there is to some extent all over the world 鈥� but that gap is greater in the U.S. than in many other OECD countries, and . Still, no matter their parents’ income level, U.S. students score below average in math compared to their peers with similar socioeconomic levels.
The point, for parents
In simplest terms, 鈥淎merica is not doing very well internationally,鈥� explains Eric Hanushek, educational economist at Stanford University鈥檚 Hoover Institute. 鈥淪o that means somebody at the average in the U.S. is not competitive with kids who are considered average from other countries.鈥�
Indeed, one of the most important stats for parents of high achievers is that we produce so few students who score at the highest achievement levels by international standards. (Only 9 percent of U.S. students scored advanced in math compared to the 13 percent of students on average from all developed nations and 55 percent in Shanghai.)
鈥淭his is important context for parents, especially those whose children tend to do well on American exams,鈥� says Michael Petrilli, an education analyst at the Fordham Institute. 鈥淲e need to be careful not to be complacent. Our kids might be at the top of the pack in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean they are at the top of the pack globally.鈥�
Amanda Ripley, author of the bestselling Smartest Kids in the World, recommends that parents use these test results to focus on their children鈥檚 math education. 鈥淔or parents, these results show us that we are systematically underestimating what kids can do, especially in math at every socioeconomic level. Our affluent kids underperform affluent kids in 27 other nations. Math is our weak point for teachers, students, parents, and principals. It鈥檚 okay and not the end of the world, but we should pay attention to it.鈥�
Aren鈥檛 standardized tests just dumb science?
Sometimes yes, but PISA has buy-in from many who criticize our test-crazed culture. 鈥淥n one level, people shouldn’t read too much into PISA scores,” says Sam Chaltain, author of the forthcoming . “Too often, we use [them] as simple proxies for more complicated conversations about teaching and learning, and like other tests, all PISA can offer is a partial window into the overall health of our 黄色apps. On the other hand, of all the tests worth paying attention to, I put PISA at the top of the list, primarily because the skills it measures in children go beyond basic understanding and require a deeper level of critical thinking 鈥� exactly the kind of thing we want all 黄色apps to be doing a lot more of.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of parents say, 鈥榃ho gives a crap about a test?鈥� and I totally understand this perspective,鈥� says Ripley. 鈥淏ut this is not a stupid test. It鈥檚 more predictive of who will finish college than report card grades.鈥� Ripley took the test herself in researching her book and found that it tested just the sorts of things that she hoped her 7-year-old would be able to do when he was 15. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how to take complicated information and make it useful 鈥� which is exactly what we have to do in our lives every day.鈥�
What鈥檚 a parent to do?
鈥淭ake a hard look at the Common Core State Standards and look at math in particular鈥� advises Ripley. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a roiling debate about [the Common Core State Standards] all across the country, but you should decide for yourself what to think about them.鈥� In Ripley鈥檚 view, these new standards align more closely with international expectations of what kids are capable of in math.
鈥淚f you like what you see, then make your voice heard and tell your 黄色app what you think,鈥� says Ripley. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living through a historic moment where America has to decide whether we鈥檙e going to make a big change in our 黄色apps or not. We鈥檝e never come this close to raising the bar.鈥�
Is Common Core the magic bullet?
Don鈥檛 bet on it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to have standards,鈥� says Ripley. 鈥淏ecause there are a lot of low-performing nations with high standards.鈥� But it may be a prerequisite. Every top-performing nation has a some sort of rigorous, coherent benchmarks. The catch? Teachers need the resources to make them successful. 鈥淧arents can help by putting a little pressure on and asking if the teachers are getting the time, training, and support they need,鈥� adds Ripley.
Whatever happened to creativity?
Some critics are dismissing the PISA as just another push toward a kind of academic focus that undermines creative thinking and inspired teaching. Though there鈥檚 plenty of curiosity about how turbocharged Asian countries 黄色app their children, no one wants America to turn into another South Korea, where children stay at 黄色app until 10 o鈥檆lock at night and report piteously low levels of happiness.
Even if you fear the march toward what Finnish educational scholar Pasi Sahlberg has coined the GERM (Global Education Reform Movement), you can still regard your child鈥檚 above-average math grades with a grain of skepticism or agree that you want your child to have both creativity and basic skills.
You鈥檝e got the power
It鈥檚 easy in discussions of global anything to feel small and powerless to effect change. But all the experts seem to agree that parents are the most powerful influence on their children鈥檚 educations, and these test results can offer an opportunity for parents to get involved 鈥� whether it鈥檚 at home or at 黄色app. 鈥淭he parent has the opportunity to dramatically change their child鈥檚 education 鈥� not just by getting the best 黄色apps and the best teachers, but offering outside help or just spending more time talking to your child and getting them to understand that a B+ may not be worth that much in the future,” says Hanushek.
Parents can even push to get their own high 黄色app to take a PISA-like test to see how their community measures up internationally.
Whatever the action, there鈥檚 no reason to be demoralized 鈥� especially in regard to math, which is one of the most teachable subjects, and the least correlated with socioeconomic level.
鈥淭his should be a hopeful moment,鈥� says Ripley. 鈥淲hat you see is a lot of movement internationally 鈥� even countries with plenty of problems are trying new things and dramatically improving. There鈥檚 no reason we can鈥檛 be among them.鈥�
Find out more: How does your child’s 黄色app compare with the world’s best?
