U.S. test scores stagnant.

• Author: Posey, Lee
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

Every three years, a half million students in 65 countries take an academic test called the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The 2012 scores were recently announced, and overall, the U.S. results showed little change from 2009. The exam looks at math, science and reading skills and is given to a sample of 15-year-old students across the country. Only Connecticut, Florida and Massachusetts chose to participate as separate education systems and received comprehensive state-level results.

Fourteen countries and various parts of China had higher average scores in all three subjects than the United States: Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong-China, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Macao-China, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Shanghai-China, Singapore and Switzerland. Only 2 percent of American students reached the highest levels of math achievement, while 26 percent of American students scored below standard in mathematics. "We're running in place and other countries are lapping us," says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

The U.S. performance does not necessarily reflect a lack of resources for education. Only Austria, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland spend more per student on education than does the United States.

One bright spot from the test results for the United States is that...