US Students Being 'Outperformed' in Math and Science

U.S. high schools students continue to lag behind their international counterparts in areas of mathematics and science, according to the 2006 Condition of Education report just released by the Department of Education.

“While our younger students are making progress on national assessments and are ahead on some international measures, the same can not be said at the high school level,” said Mark Schneider, NCES Commissioner in a press release. “U.S. students do relatively well in reading literacy when compared to their international peers, but they are outperformed in mathematics and science and our 15-year-old students trail many of our competitors in math and science literacy.”

A few highlights from Condition of Education 2006 include:

• U.S. 15-year-olds had lower average scores in mathematics and science literacy compared with most of their peers from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries.

• Fourth-graders showed improvements in math and science, with rising scores between 1996 and 2005.

• Twelfth-graders' performance in science declined between 1996 and 2005.

• Nineteen percent of children ages 5-17 speak a language other than English at home.

• Minority students make up 43 percent of public school enrollment.

Also See:
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Bush Says No Child Left Behind is Working
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