US teens show little improvement on global exam

Teens from Asian nations dominated a global exam given to 15-year-olds, while U.S. students showed little improvement and failed to crack the top 20 in math, science or reading, according to test results released Tuesday.

The test, known as the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, is given every three years to 15-year-olds in 65 countries. It is designed to assess how students use what they've learned inside and outside the classroom to solve problems.

U.S. students scored below the international average in math and about average in science and reading, a result that Education Secretary Arne Duncan called a "picture of educational stagnation."

The top average scores in each subject came from Shanghai, China's largest city, with more than 20 million people. Students in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong were among the participants, and their mean scores were at the top in each subject. Vietnam, which had its students participate for the first time, had higher average scores in math and science than the United States did.

"We must invest in early education, raise academic standards, make college affordable and do more to recruit and retain top-notch educators," Duncan said.

About half a million students took part in the 2012 PISA, which is coordinated by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

U.S. scores on the PISA haven't changed much since testing started in 2000, even as students in countries such as Ireland and Poland have improved to surpass U.S. students.

"It's hard to get excited about standing still while others around you are improving, so I don't want to be too positive," said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. But he added that the U.S. has a respectable foundation on which to build.

American students historically have not had high marks on international tests. Factors often cited include high rates of child poverty and population diversity.

In contrast to the PISA results, American fourth- and eighth-graders over time have made some progress in reading and math on an assessment referred to as the Nation's Report Card, even though recent results found the vast majority of the students still are not demonstrating solid academic performance in either subject.

Among educators, Finland has drawn notice for the performance of its students on previous tests, but this year its mean PISA scores dropped in all three subjects, most notably in math. Nonetheless, Finland's students did better on average than those from the United States.

Shanghai students also topped the previous set of PISA tests. Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, said the school system in Shanghai is not equitable and the students tested are children of the elite. 

"The Shanghai scores, frankly, to me, are difficult to interpret," he said. "They are almost meaningless."

Buckley said U.S. officials have not seen any evidence of a biased sample of students tested in Shanghai. 

National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel said of the Asian nations dominating the test, "The one thing they all have in common is that they make a real commitment to education for all kids, and nothing deters them from that vision, and then they do what's necessary to make that happen. In the United States, we don't have the commitment for all kids, and it needs to change."

One indicator of performance is how many students scored at a high level on each subject tested. In the United States, 9 percent of test takers hit that mark in math, 7 percent did so in science and 8 percent did in reading. Fewer U.S. test takers hit that mark in math than the international mean. However, they performed at about the international average in the other two subjects.

Students from all U.S. states took the test. Three states — Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida — encouraged their schools to have students take the test. Average scores from Massachusetts were above the international mean in reading, math and science. Connecticut's scored on average around the international mean in math and higher than the international average in science and reading. Florida students on average scored below the international mean in math and science and around the international average in reading.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press