U.S. students slowly improving in math and science

Last month, the Pew Research Center released data showing that although U.S. students are slowly improving in math and science, they still are behind in the subjects when compared to other countries.

Only 29% of Americans rated their country's K-12 STEM education as above average; scientists were even more critical, with only 16% of American Association of the Advancement of Science members calling K-12 STEM education above average. Despite these low percentages, U.S. students are slowly improving in math and science, scoring higher on national assessments than they did two decades ago. However, the U.S. still has more work to do when compared internationally, as they still rank in the middle and behind several other nations.

Among these cross-national assessments is the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures reading ability, math and science literacy, and other skills every three years; in 2012, the U.S. placed 35th out of 64 countries in math, and 27th in science (see below photo). Another assessment is the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which tests students every four years, placed the U.S. in the top ten countries

Interested in reading more? Check out the original article, "U.S. students improving – slowly – in math and science, but still lagging internationally" by Drew Desilver and check out the Pew Research Center's official website. You can learn more about the most recent PISA results by reading our old blog post, "PISA Results"

Here at Project Tomorrow, our vision is to ensure that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world.  We believe that by supporting the innovative uses of science, math and technology resources in our K-12 schools and communities, students will develop the critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills needed to compete and thrive in the 21st century. You can learn more about us and our various programs at http://www.tomorrow.org/

PISA Results

According to the latest data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the knowledge of 15-year-old students through mathematics, reading, and science, students from the United States have hardly made progress in the past nine years; among thirty-four developed countries, the US ranked 26^th in math, 21^st in science, and 17^th in reading. In comparison, Shanghai scored the highest overall, leading educators and administrators to question the quality of the US’s education standards.

“The systems that are making the most progress have embraced rigorous curriculums for their kids, and we need to do the same thing,” said Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America. “It’s very hard to make progress without adopting globally benchmarked standards for our kids.” While most educators believe the Common Core Standards will help place the United States higher on the PISA results, others believe that more can be done: Kris Perry, the executive director of the First Five Years Fund, believes the US needs better access to high-quality preschools, while Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, says that the US should learn from high-performing nations (i.e. Japan, Finland, and Switzerland) and have greater respect for public education.

PISA is given every three years in order to assess to what extent students at the end of their compulsory education can apply their knowledge to real-life situations; the tests are not directly linked to school curriculum. Given the results of PISA 2012 were just released, it is unsure of what measures the United States will take to improve its students’ education and knowledge. However, we can be sure that educators all over the nation will use the next three years to help the United States get out of its stagnant placement.

Read more at: U.S. Students Get Stuck in Middle of the Pack on OECD Test- Bloomberg.com and American Students Fall in International Academic Test, Chinese Lead the Pack - US News.

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-The Project Tomorrow Team

Written by Lisa Chu, Project Tomorrow Fall Intern