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Actually, you have some incorrect data. In the most recent international comparisons of children's reading ability, (1992) 4th grade students in the U.S. ranked SECOND, only behind Finland. 9th grade students in the U.S. finished 9th, but it should be noted that in many countries, students who struggle are allowed and even encouraged to leave school. Still the U.S. 9th graders did score above the average -- and it scored statistically the same as the 4th graders. The study authors posited that the other countries improved due to the pulling out of the low scores.

Even so, the U.S. 9th graders still scored better than Germany, Denmark, Canada, and The Netherlands. Those scores included ALL ranges of socio-economic classes for the U.S. and only the top 2/3 or so of those countries.

In the event one would want to look up this study, I give the following information.

Elley, W. B. (1992). How in the World do Students Read? IEA Study of Reading Literacy. The Hague, Netherlands: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Excerpts of this study may be found in the book, What Really Matters for Struggling Readers by Richard L. Allington.

So all that being said, U.S. kids stack up just fine across the world. Does that mean we can't and shouldn't do better? Of course we should.