It’s become clear in recent years that the rising outsourcing of America’s manufacturing and white-collar back-office jobs to Asia has been aided and abetted by American students’ declining level of achievement relative to those in many foreign countries. In industry’s view, foreign labor in Asia can now be seen as cheaper and more motivated, and smarter as well.
The latest widely accepted and seriously vetted measure of student achievement among 15-year-olds in 65 countries suggests the widening scope of American students’ shortfall in achievement. American students rank way down the list: 31st in math (and well below the average score), 23rd in science and 17th in reading.
Asia tops the West
Asian countries — including three regional entries by China to reflect its vast diversity — took five top places in math, four of the top five places in reading, and five of the top six places in science. Shanghai, China’s most well-educated regional star, swept first-place in all three categories by substantial margins. China’s Hong Kong region was third in science and math, and fourth in reading. China’s Macao province, though not in the top 10, scored well ahead of U.S. students in science and math.
Three other Asian countries — Singapore, Korea and Japan — consistently competed with Shanghai and Hong Kong for the top five or six spots. Among western countries, only Finland and Canada ranked in the top 10 in all three categories. New Zealand, Netherlands, Australia, Estonia and Switzerland were consistently in the second 10 rankings.
China’s commitment
The scores are noteworthy partly because they reflect China’s rapid and broad progress to the top tier of educational achievement globally, and partly because a yearlong review of China’s achievement scores by the overseers of the test program confirmed that the results were so clearly valid.
The international test, the Program of International Student Assessments, known as PISA, was administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the foremost institution in indexing and measuring the relative standing of nations in a variety of fields and services. Top-level current and former American education officials who have studied the results say the tests fairly represent the achievement levels of broad bodies of students in China, as in the United States and other countries.
The representative sampling of students in China and the United States, for example, includes more than 5,000 students in each country and is comprised to represent national norms.
The results are striking because they confirm the continued mediocrity of American student achievement despite years of promises to raise American achievement. The results also are notable because they confirm China’s deep commitment to improving education, and its stellar results relative to America’s ho-hum performance.
China’s Shanghai region scored so far ahead of the United States and mid-level European nations that it took professional education analysts by surprise. Shanghai, for example, scored 575 in science, vs. the U.S. score of 502 and the 65-nation average score of 501. Shanghai’s math score, 600, was even more extraordinary, far outpacing the average score of 497, and the underwhelming American score of 487. Shanghai’s 556 score in reading also was far ahead of the average 494, and America’s 500 score.
A Sputnik moment
“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them to be accurate and reliable, and we have to see them as a challenge to get better. … We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being out-educated.”
Former education officials under Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush said essentially the same thing. Chester Finn, the former Reagan education official, said he was “stunned” by the scores and America’s distance behind China and other Asia nations. He called it a “Sputnik” moment — a time to get serious about competing, or being left behind.
Mark Schneider, who served under Bush and went to China to research the results, said he found the results to be accurate and compelling evidence of a serious education gap between China’s and America’s performance.
A stronger work ethic
He said China was taking education “very seriously” and that students’ and teachers’ work ethics were “amazingly strong.” Indeed, China pays its teachers well, and good teachers are revered, making teaching a highly prized profession.
The assessments of Duncan, Finn and Schneider acknowledge the obvious: America isn’t likely to remain at the top of the superpower heap if our students’ academic achievement remains so lackluster, and if our manufacturing and knowledge-based jobs keep flowing to China and other cheaper, smarter Asian competitors. The latter concern won’t be fixed until the education piece is.
President Obama also said the test results show that “America is in danger of falling behind.” Actually, the test — and prior ones like — confirms that American already has fallen behind our key economic competitors in educational achievement. The question is, how many alarms do we need to generate effective education reforms?