The National Superintendents Roundtable and the Horace Mann League released a report called “School Reform in Context,” based on data about children, schools, and the social context of schooling in the U.S. and other nations. This study challenges the conventional claim that our education system is falling behind the rest of the world. Seen in context, our school system has performed admirably in creating the world’s most highly educated workforce, but faces ongoing challenges of high levels of child poverty, inequity, and violence in society.
New study finds U.S. has the world’s most educated workforce—but students face unparalleled levels of poverty, inequity and violence
Washington, DC. January 20– A new study released today challenges the practice of ranking nations by educational test scores and questions conventional wisdom that the U.S.educational system has fallen badly behind school systems abroad.
In their report, School Performance in Context: The Iceberg Effect, the Horace Mann League (HML) and the National Superintendents Roundtable examined six dimensions related to student performance—equity, social stress, support for families, support for schools, student outcomes, and system outcomes—in the G-7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Finland and China. They then examined 24 “indicators” within those dimensions.
Of the nine nations, the United States remains the wealthiest with the most highly educated workforce, based on the number of years of school completed, and the proportion of adults with high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees.
“Many policymakers and business leaders fret that America has fallen behind Europe and China, but our research does not bear that out,” said James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable.
Despite high educational levels, the United States also reflects high levels of economic inequity and social stress compared to the other nations. All are related to student performance. Measures included rates of childhood poverty, income inequality and violence. For example, in American public schools today, the rate of childhood poverty is five times greater than it is in Finland. Rates of violent death are 13 times greater than the average for the other nations, with children in some communities reporting they have witnessed shootings, knifings, and beatings as “ordinary, everyday events.”
The study is a unique analysis, which for the first time compares K-12 education internationally on an array of social and economic indicators, not just test scores. The goal was to look at the whole iceberg, not just the tip—and provide a clearer snapshot of each country’s performance, including its wealth, diversity, community safety, and support for families and schools.
Some key findings:
- Economic Equity: The United States and China demonstrate the greatest gaps between rich and poor. The U.S. also contends with remarkably high rates of income inequality and childhood poverty.
- Social Stress: The U.S.reported the highest rates of violent death and teen pregnancy, and came in second for death rates from drug abuse. The U.S.is also one of the most diverse nations with many immigrant students, suggesting English may not be their first language.
- Support for Families: The U.S. performed in the lowest third on public spending for services that benefit children and families, including preschool.
- Support for Schools: Americans seem willing to invest in education: The U.S. leads the nine-nation group in spending per student, but the national estimates may not be truly comparable. U.S. teachers spend about 40 percent more time in the classroom than their peers in the comparison countries.
- Student Outcomes: Performance in American elementary schools is promising, while middle school performance can be improved. U.S. students excel in 4th grade reading and high school graduation rates, but perform less well in reading at age 15. All nations demonstrate an achievement gap based on students’ family income and socio-economic status.
- System Outcomes: The U.S. leads these nations in educational levels of its adult workforce. Measures included years of schooling completed and the proportion of adults with high-school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees. American students also make up 25 percent of the world’s top students in science at age 15, followed by Japan at 13 percent.
- “Too often, we narrow our focus to a few things that can be easily tested. To avoid that scoreboard mentality, we need to look at many measures important to shaping our future citizens. Treating education as a horse race doesn’t work,” said HML President Gary Marx.
- A call for more nuanced assessments
- American policymakers from both political parties have a history of relying on large, international assessments to judge United States’ performance in education. In 2013, the press reported that American students were falling behind when compared to 61 other countries and a few cities including Shanghai. In that comparative assessment—called the Program for International Student Assessment—PISA controversially reported superior scores for Shanghai.
- “We don’t oppose using international assessments as one measure of performance. But as educators and policymakers, we need to compare ourselves with similar nations and on a broader set of indicators that put school performance in context—not just a single number in an international ranking,” said Harvey.
- “Our study suggests the U.S. has the most educated workforce, yet students confront shockingly high rates of poverty and violence. Research shows that those larger issues, outside the classroom, are serious threats to student learning,” noted HML Executive Director Jack McKay.
- The report, a summary and a video are available at: http://www.superintendentsforum.org and http://www.hmleague.org.
About the sponsors
The Horace Mann League (hmleague.org) is an association of educators
committed to the
principles of public education. Its members believe the U.S. public school system is an
indispensable agency for strengthening our democracy and a vital, dynamic influence in
American life.
The National Superintendents Roundtable (superintendentsforum.org) is a learning community of school superintendents who learn, discuss and meet regularly with worldwide experts,
National Superintendents Roundtable Contact: Rhenda Meiser
(206) 465-9532
rhenda@rhendameiser.com
###
Horace Mann League Contact: Gary Marx, President
(703) 938-8725 gmarxcpo@aol.com
Report should be the subject of a National Press Club session. Wonder if the report will be sent, with an executive summary, to staff of congressional leaders on education, and people who are notorious for spreading only one version of international comparisons of data.I loved the point that teachers in the US spend 40% more time in the classroom than their peers in other nations.
“I loved the point that teachers in the US spend 40% more time in the classroom than their peers in other nations.”
And I would bet that many teachers spend quite a bit more time than that. But time is not all as one has to include the number of preps for different subjects. I currently teach 7 classes a day with 5 preps. We get 4 minutes between classes, twenty two minutes for lunch and a planning period of 47 minutes.
It is too hectic but fortunately I can retire after this year. The pace of the day is a killer. I challenge anyone, but especially all the edudeformers and edudivas who won’t believe a word of the report if they even give it ten seconds of thought (notice I didn’t say intelligent thought).
to finish my thought: “I challenge anyone. . . intelligent thought), to teach for a year under those conditions.”
I agree. Unless you have done it, people don’t truly understand what public teaching is like. It is like a daily tornado. I used to go home with aching feet, but with a good feeling I had accomplished something. When I got in the car, I turned off the radio. I wanted to hear the sounds of silence! It should be noted I mostly taught right outside the cafeteria.
If this report is given much media coverage……it has negatives and positives…….if you were an advocate of more privatization, (which I am definitely not), what would your response be? Would you be tempted to claim the positives, and blame the negatives?
One question is whether years of education, diplomas and degrees are valid measures of the educational level of the workforce. High school diplomas and bachelors degrees are not comparable necessarily across nations.
“. . . are valid measures of the educational level . . . ”
There are no valid measures of educational level. As a matter of fact there are no valid measures whatsoever of the teaching and learning processes.
It’s good to see another report confirm one of the central theses of “Reign of Error,” which is that the state of America’s public education is strong. There have been great gains in important areas, like graduation rates and the academic performance of disadvantaged populations, in the past 14 years.
I did a thread on the St. Louis Post Dispatch…..Education report–USA ranking in the world–worth reporting?…http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1089372
some comments…..
Do we care that it is the world’s most educated work force if we could argue that the quality of the education is continuing to fall?
When’s the last time you saw the quality of work coming from your average undergrad? Forgot the testing industry. I have had students as recently as 4 years ago that could barely complete a sentence and yet were sophomores and juniors in college.
As long as we continue to import the 3rd world into our country the rankings will get worse. Hispanics have great work ethic, but education is not a priority.
All of the research shows the gaps in education occur mostly over the summer. The kids that continue to pull away from the others are those where the parents actually place an emphasis on learning and make it a year long practice instead of 8 months.
It’s pretty simple, if you want your kids to have a successful education take an active role in it.
I asked this…..”How much does the public owe to these kids who do not have the parents who do all we wish they would do?” When I pointed out that teachers would probably want more money for working longer hours a year…….and……..that the increasing turnover of experienced teachers is viewed as a problem in public schools…and as an a marketing advantage in charters.
“‘As long as we continue to import the 3rd world into our country the rankings will get worse. Hispanics have great work ethic, but education is not a priority.”
??? Broad brush much? Or maybe just plain old racist?
he was characterized as such by one of the commentators….I often post links to Diane, because she covers so much that the rest of the St. Louis media does not……I am doing slightly better with this than is usually the case.
I worked with Hispanic parents for many years. The mothers are wonderful, loving women. They are very trusting of the school and its authority. This is part of their culture. We ran workshops on understanding the American school system. We found by making school accessible they showed up! We had translators, transportation and babysitting for our meetings. We asked them to advise us on Hispanic projects in the school. They came, spoke to students, and offered their expertise. If you are invitational and show them respect, they will want to contribute and are eager to learn.
We probably could have a smarter school year schedule: year-round, with more breaks throughout the year. The traditional September through June model does seem anachronistic.
Great idea! As soon as we get some air conditioning for the sweltering days. And some adequate heat for the real cold ones would be good, too.