We’ve been following a study compiled by Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next with some interest. In August, they released a comparison of how US students measure up in reading and math against international students based on two studies:
- the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and
- the 2007 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP).
Today, they released more detailed figures from that report. The most startling finding is that parents are drawing false comfort in comparing themselves to neighboring districts. The report clearly shows that “even the most elite suburban school districts often produce results that are mediocre when compared with those of our international peers”.
We created a map comparing state math performances to individual countries. The results speak for themselves. Florida is on par with Lithuania, California is on par with Russia, Michigan with Latvia, Mississippi with Uruguay. The best performing State, Massachusetts, is on par with Canada.
