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3 Ways to Improve U.S. Students Standing Worldwide

The latest international report on student knowledge and success worldwide once again paints U.S. pupils in a bad light. This is not the first time American students have lagged behind their peers on the OECD PISA global education survey that tests and compares student outcomes in areas like math, science and reading. The results are really just more of the same. While I take issue with particular parts of the test (leader China reportedly only tested students in elite schools in Shanghai), it is a wake-up call nonetheless. When it comes to American K-12 student achievement, it is not enough …

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5 Steps America’s Schools Must Take to Reclaim its Spot on the World Stage

The United States entered the 21st century as the world’s sole superpower. Our diplomatic strength, military might, financial resources, and technological innovation were, and continue to be, the envy of the world. However, in the crucial area of education, the U.S. lags behind many other developed countries. Although the U.S. spends more per student than almost any other country in the world, international exams have demonstrated that we consistently perform well behind countries such as South Korea, China, Japan, and Finland in the areas of reading and math. Why is it happening and what do we, as Americans, need to …

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Here’s why immigrant students perform poorly

Molly McManus, University of Texas at Austin Immigrant students in the United States consistently perform worse academically than nonimmigrant students. This achievement gap is evident as early as preschool and only grows as immigrant students advance through high school. But, what causes the achievement gap? One notion that fuels anti-immigrant attitudes is the belief that immigrant students perform poorly because of their immigrant backgrounds. This is misguided. As a former teacher and now researcher of immigrant families, I am familiar with concerns about low academic achievement among immigrant students. However, as my work shows, immigrant students face barriers beyond their …

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3 Little-Known Facts You Should Know about Education around the World

There is lots of talk about how America compares to other countries on a global scale, especially how the US lags behind other developed nations in education quality. However, when it comes to addressing the issues of education worldwide, there is more than just the supposed mediocrity of the US public education system to consider. Here are three little-known facts you should know about education around the world: Girls are actually doing better worldwide than boys. Girls are outperforming boys academically in many countries according to a report from Dr. Gijsbert Stoet of the University of Glasgow in Scotland and …

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