The Myth of America's Failing Schools

By Roberta

Part 2 Other Tests and International Comparisons


Other Tests

OK. So the SAT does not measure school or student performance. But other tests show American schools and students failing. Right?

Wrong.

1. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), popularly known as The Nation's Report Card shows that American students are doing about as well as their parents twenty years ago.

Tamim Ansary over at msn Encarta, Parent Resources says, "The (Nation's) Report Card is all about numbers: rows and columns of them, scores for every grade, subject, and state, scientifically adjusted to correct for distortions generated by such factors as changing demographics-all to ensure that comparisons of today's students with yesterday's will be comparisons of apples with apples.

"This is social science. Oddly enough, these numbers don't really support what 'everyone knows'...the NAEP seemed to show American students doing about the same as their counterparts had done 20 years earlier, even though the educational system had expanded tremendously and was serving, at that point, a far more diverse population of students, including many more with a limited command of English."

2. The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) is a short version of the SAT. The test is designed to try out new test questions for the SAT and is given to a representative sample of students, as opposed to the voluntary SAT test. PSAT scores are available for every year since 1959 and show that there has been NO decline in either mathematical or verbal scores. (Source: Berliner & Biddle, The Manufactured Crisis) (emphasis mine)

3. The California Achievement Test (CAT), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT), and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) also show students scoring higher on reading and math every year. Why don't the media report this news? (Source: Berliner & Biddle, The Manufactured Crisis)

4. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a test taken by seniors in college who are interested in studying for advanced degrees. Again, like the SAT, in the mid-sixties to early-seventies the scores on this test dipped slightly due to the influx of more college students in those years. Since 1971 though, the percentage of students taking the test has not varied that much, but, average GRE scores have risen, despite the fact that a new analytic subset designed to measure higher level thinking skills was added to the test. (Source: Berliner & Biddle, The Manufactured Crisis)

International Comparisons

Well, but compared to students in other countries American students are doing very poorly. If you said yes to that statement, you would be wrong again.

Again from msn Encarta, Parent Resources, Tamim Ansary writes, "As for international comparisons, every four years, over the last decade, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has participated in an international assessment called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This report compares test results from 25 to 50 countries in various categories. It focuses only on mathematics and hard science because those subjects are culturally and linguistically neutral, so the same test questions can be given to kids of different countries...


"According to the TIMSS, the United States is not "dead last" (as journalist Charles Krauthammer so colorfully put it) but "dead-middle," or a smidgen above. In 2003, overall, it scored higher than 13 countries and lower than 11 others. The countries beating us included Latvia, Hungary, and the Netherlands. The ones we beat included Norway, Iran, and Slovenia.

"Besides," Ansary continues, "statistics are more ambiguous than they seem, because there's always a social context to numbers."

Berliner & Biddle in The Manufactured Crisis cite the same study and come to the same conclusion as Ansary. But they add that in many countries only select (read most intelligent) students take these international tests. It is also important to keep in mind that many of the countries that scored higher than us on this test have a more homogenous population and do not have as wide a gap between rich and poor as does America. This is the 'social context,' Ansary refers to in the above quote.

In the Second International Mathematics Study (1980-1982) from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Berliner and Biddle note the study found that the aggregate achievement of eighth grade American students lagged behind that of eighth grade students in many other countries, notably Japan. This fact was immediately pounced on by critics and a dutiful press, which enthusiastically vilified American schools, students, and teachers for fecklessness.

What nobody took note of was that Japanese schools required algebra be taken in the eighth grade. Such courses are not usually offered to American students until the freshman or sophomore year in high school. Berliner and Biddle note, "...what the critics had interpreted as a failure of American schools turned out to be merely a reflection of the age at which algebra instruction is typically begun in Japanese and American schools."

There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.

Richard Rothstein in "The Myth of Public School Failure," writes, "Contrary to a cherished myth, American science and engineering performance surpasses our competitors. Of every 10,000 Americans, 7.4 have bachelor's degrees in physical science or engineering. Japan has 7.3 per 10,000 and West Germany, 6.7. American performance continues to improve: in 1987, 7 percent of 22-year-olds had a science or engineering degree, up from less than 5 percent in 1970. Only 6.5 percent of 22-year-olds in Japan and 4 percent of 22-year-olds in Germany had science or engineering degrees in 1987. Our advantage stems from greater commitment to educate women. In America, 35 percent of new scientists are women, compared with Japan's 10 percent."

There is one story in Berliner and Biddle's, The Manufactured Crisis about the science big business community telling everyone there were not enough science and engineering college graduates. The good 'ole Chicken Little-sky is falling syndrome. Soon after these dire predictions there was a glut of such graduates. Guess what happened? Lower salaries for scientists and engineers because there were more graduates now than jobs. Was this a coincidence or market manipulation by the rich and powerful? Berliner and Biddle believe the latter.

Next In Part 3 on Monday night: Ignored News and Conclusion