Free Republic

The OECD is out with new global rankings of how students in various countries do in reading , science and math .

I understand that we are more than $16 Trillion in debt and unemployment has been above eight percent for 43 straight months, but education reform is a moral imperative that cannot wait: We have a crisis in our schools. This is not a new revelation, but it needs to be stated regardless, particularly at the start of another academic year and at a time when America is struggling to compete in the very fields — math, science, technology — that are defining the global economy. Consider that U.S. high school students graduate with just a 32 percent proficiency rate in...

About 30 percent of fourth-graders and 23 percent of eight-graders in California tested proficient math tests from the National Assessment of Education Progress, ranking the state near the bottom nationally. Only students in Mississippi, Alabama and Washington, D.C. had lower scores on the tests, commonly referred to as the "nation's report card." (See an interactive graphic on the scores here.) Nationwide, 38 percent of fourth-graders and 33 percent of eighth-graders performed at proficient levels. Scores for English tests will be released in coming weeks. Fewer than 170,000 students in the country were tested per grade in the exams administered last...

Today’s headlines mostly got it wrong: * The New York Sun said "Study Shatters Myth That Boys Are Better At Math." * The New York Post said "Girls = boys in math skills." * The New York Daily News said "Math gender differences erased." * The New York Times said "Math Scores Show No Gap for Girls, Study Finds." Only the Wall Street Journal got it right: * "Boys' Math Score Hit Highs and Lows." This is, of course, a political topic. This is evidenced by the Times beginning their take on the story by recalling the fate of Larry...