Korea

Canada

USA

Turkey
 feature

U.S. Students
from Educated Families
Lag in International Tests
by ERIC A. HANUSHEK, PAUL E. PETERSON, and LUDGER WOESSMANN

“The big picture of U.S. performance on the 2012 Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA) is straightforward and stark: It is a picture of edu-
cational stagnation.... Fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. today are average in science
and reading literacy, and below average in mathematics, compared to their
counterparts in [other industrialized] countries.”
U.S. secretary of education Arne Duncan spoke these grim words on the bleak December day in late
2013 when the international tests in math, science, and literacy were released. No less disconcerting was
the secretary’s warning that the nation’s educational problems are not limited to certain groups or specific
places. The “educational challenge in America is not just about poor kids in poor neighborhoods,” he said.
“It’s about many kids in many neighborhoods. The [test] results underscore that educational shortcomings
in the United States are not just the problems of other people’s children.”

It’s not just about kids in poor neighborhoods

In making his comments, Secretary Duncan challenged those who cling to an old belief that the
nation’s educational challenges are confined to its inner cities. Most affluent Americans remain
optimistic about the schools in their local community. In 2011, Education Next asked a representative
sample to evaluate both the nation’s schools and those in their own community. The affluent were
especially dubious about the nation’s schools—only 15 percent conceded them an A or a B. Yet 54
percent gave their local schools one of the two top ratings.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES

[Link] F A L L 2 0 1 4 / E DU CA TION NEX T 9

 Public opinion is split on how well the nation’s schools inner city or the confines of low-income neighborhoods
educate students of different abilities. In 2013 Education where many parents lack a high school diploma. While
Next asked the public whether local schools did a good job bright spots can be identified—particularly in some states
of teaching talented students. Seventy-three percent said the along the country’s northern tier—the overall picture is dis-
local schools did “somewhat” or “extremely” well at the task, tressing to those concerned about the potential evolution of
as compared to only 45 percent who thought that was true of economic well-being of the United States in the 21st century.
their capacity to teach the less-talented.

Conventional Wisdom
Not everyone agrees that the nation’s
When viewed from a global schools are in trouble. In their apol-
ogy for the American school, David
perspective, U.S. schools Berliner and Gene Glass seek to reas-
sure Americans by trying to isolate the
seem to do as badly teaching problem to minority groups or those of
low income. “In the United States, if we
those from better-educated looked only at the students who attend
schools where child poverty rates are
families as they do teaching those from less under 10 percent, we would rank as
the number one country in the world,”
they write.
well educated families. These claims are highly misleading.
The important question to ask is, Do stu-
dents with similar family background do
To see whether this optimistic assessment of the nation’s better in the United States than in other countries?
ability to teach the more able student is correct, we draw Defenders of the American school also like to compare
upon the latest tests of student achievement and find that, the highest-performing states within the United States to
as Secretary Duncan has said, the nation’s “educational all students in other countries. “Massachusetts...scored so
shortcomings” are not just the problems of the other high that only a few Asian countries beat it,” Berliner and
person’s child. We have given special attention to math Glass declare. “The states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and
performance because math appears to be the subject in Colorado...ranked among the top-performing nations in the
which accomplishment is particularly significant for both world.” It is true that Massachusetts schools stand up to world
an individual’s and a country’s economic well-being. competition, but it is important to keep in mind that the
When viewed from a global perspective, U.S. schools seem K–12 students living in Massachusetts are just 2 percent of
to do as badly teaching those from better-educated families the nation’s total. One cannot generalize to the country as a
as they do teaching those from less well educated families. whole from this small state.
Overall, the U.S. proficiency rate in math (35 percent) places
the country at the 27th rank among the 34 OECD countries
that participated in the Program for International Student The Study
Assessment (PISA). That ranking is somewhat lower for Our state-by-state data come from the 2011 tests adminis-
students from advantaged backgrounds (28th) than for those tered to representative samples of U.S. students in 8th grade
from disadvantaged ones (20th). by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
There are examples of excellence. The six states with high Our country-by-country data come from the PISA tests,
proficiency rates (58 to 62 percent) among students from which are administered by the Organization for Economic
families with high levels of parental education rank among the Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2012, OECD
OECD top 13 on this measure. But students from these states administered the PISA tests to representative samples of
are a small portion of the U.S. student population, and other students at the age of 15 in 68 jurisdictions, including all 34
states rank much lower down the international list. In many OECD countries. Our analysis compares U.S. performance
places, students from highly educated families are performing to those of students in the other OECD countries.
well below the OECD average for similarly advantaged students. The proficiency and advanced standards used in this
There can be little doubt that education shortcomings in study follow those developed by NAEP. To equate profi-
the United States spread well beyond the corridors of the ciency and advanced performance rates across states and

10 ED U C A T I O N N E X T / F A L L 2 0 1 4 [Link]
 feature
U.S. STUDENT PROFICIENCY HANUSHEK, PETERSON & WOESSMANN

countries, we execute a crosswalk between the NAEP and States ranks 20th, placing it slightly ahead of Austria and
PISA tests by identifying levels of performance on PISA France and just behind Denmark and the United Kingdom.
that yield equivalent proportions of U.S. students that In simplest terms, many other countries do a much better
meet the NAEP proficiency and advanced standards (see job of educating young people whose parents lack a high
Methodology sidebar). school diploma.
To assess overall performance, we identify the percent- Moderate parental education. The relative standing of
age of students in the high school class of 2015 who are the United States is even worse among students from mod-
performing at proficient and advanced levels of achievement erately well educated families. The math proficiency rate
in math. (While not reported here, we also looked at reading (26%) for this group is again around half the rate enjoyed
and science, and the results are broadly similar to those for by Switzerland (57%), Korea (56%), Germany (52%), and
math.) We focus on how each state within the United States the Netherlands (50%). Other major countries that out-
ranks relative to all 33 other OECD countries. perform the United States include Japan (48%), Canada
To ascertain whether the challenges facing the United (43%), Poland (43%), the United Kingdom (39%), and
States are concentrated among the educationally disadvan- France (35%). When it comes to instructing the children of
taged, we identify for each state and country the proficiency the moderately well educated, the United States comes in
rate of students from families with parents of high,
moderate, and low levels of education. If the prob-
lems are concentrated in ways that some would Methodology
have us believe, U.S. students from families with Our analysis relies on test-score information for adolescents collected
high parental education should compare favorably
by NAEP in 2011 and PISA in 2012. To equate proficiency and advanced
with similarly situated students abroad. Such a
performance rates across states and countries, we execute a
finding would support the oft-repeated claim that
crosswalk between the two tests by identifying levels of performance
the achievement challenges are limited to those
on PISA that yield equivalent proportions of U.S. students that meet
who come from disadvantaged families (measured
the NAEP proficiency and advanced standards. We assume that all
here by low levels of parental education).
those who pass the NAEP proficiency bar in 8th grade will pass a
similar threshold on the PISA test the next year. The 2011 NAEP
How Well Do U.S. Schools assessment identifies 34.7 percent of U.S. 8th graders as proficient
Educate Different Students? and 8.2 percent as advanced in math. Thus, in math, that threshold is
According to NAEP, 35 percent of the members calculated by identifying the lowest PISA score of students who rank in
of the U.S. class of 2015 reach or exceed the pro- the top 34.7 percent of U.S. PISA test-takers. Similar procedures are
ficiency level in math. Based on our calculations, used to conduct crosswalks at the advanced level in math.
this percentage places the United States at the Low levels of parental education are defined here as having no
27th rank among the 34 OECD countries (see parent who received a high school diploma. Families with moderate
Figure 1). The percentage of students who are education levels are those in which at least one parent is reported to
math proficient is nearly twice as large in Korea have received a high school diploma but neither parent has earned a
(65%), Japan (59%), and Switzerland (57%). Other college degree. Families with high education levels are those reported
countries with performances that clearly outrank to have at least one parent with a college degree.
the United States include Finland (52%), Canada (See the full report for further methodological details. Available at
(51%), Germany (50%), Australia (45%), France [Link]
(42%), and the United Kingdom (41%).
To see whether the low U.S. ranking in math
is due mainly to social class factors separate and
apart from the schools, we next identify proficiency rat- at the 30th rank among the 34 OECD countries, 10 ranks
ings for students from families with differing amounts of lower than was the case for students from families with low
parental education. parental education.
Low parental education. Only 17 percent of these U.S. High parental education. The percentage proficient of
students are proficient in math (see Figure 2). This is half 15-year-olds from families with high parental education is
or less than the percentage of similarly situated students conventionally thought to be the exception to this bleak pic-
(those whose parents also have low levels of education) in ture. Indeed, the proficiency rate of 43% is higher than the
Korea (46%), the Netherlands (37%), Germany (35%), and rate for families with low (17%) or moderate (26%) levels
Japan (34%). Among OECD countries as a whole, the United of education. But the relative standing of the United States

[Link] F A L L 2 0 1 4 / E DU CA TION NEX T 11

vis-à-vis other OECD countries remains near the very bottom (25%) have the highest proficiency rates, well ahead of
(see Figure 3), at the 28th rank. When viewed from a global Massachusetts and Minnesota (both at 18%), putting them
perspective, U.S. schools seem to do as badly teaching those in 7th and 8th place among U.S. states for this category of
from better-educated families as they do teaching those from students. Maryland and Illinois are at about the national
the less well educated. average, while New York, in 27th place, falls slightly below.
Countries with high proficiency rates among students California (9%), West Virginia (6%), and Utah (5%) rank at
from better-educated families include Korea (73%), Poland embarrassingly low levels. (See Figure 4 for a picture of the
(71%), Japan (68%), Switzerland (65%), Germany (64%) and overall pattern throughout the 50 states.)
Canada (57%). Perhaps the only comfort the United States Many people assume that students coming from families
with high education levels are keeping
up with their peers abroad. Indeed, in
some parts of the United States that is
California is large enough in fact the case. More than 62 percent
of students from Massachusetts families
to be an OECD country in its with high levels of parental education
are proficient in math, placing that
state just behind Germany (64%) and
own right. If it were, its 43 Switzerland (65%), two of the top-five
OECD countries. Only a bit further back
percent proficiency rating are Vermont, Minnesota, Colorado,
New Jersey, and Montana, all of which
have a proficiency rate of 58 percent
among students from highly educated families or 59 percent for students from better-
educated families. Internationally, that
would place it 30th out of 34, just below Italy. places these states in the same league
as the Czech Republic (58%), Canada
(57%), and Finland (56%), which are
among the OECD top 13.
can take is that it is only 5 percentage points behind its mother But those six states are the highest-performing states in
country, the United Kingdom (48%). the Union. Other states rank much lower down the inter-
Across the OECD, there is a strong relationship between national list. In many places, students from highly educated
the math performance of students from families with high families are performing well below the OECD average for
and with low educational backgrounds. Mexico and Chile similarly advantaged students. For example, Wisconsin, if
are particularly weak at educating those from better-edu- ranked as a country on this measure, would come in 21st,
cated families, however. Conversely, Poland and Slovakia just below Ireland. California is large enough to be an OECD
are particularly weak at educating students from families country in its own right. If it were, its 43 percent proficiency
with less education, given the performance of those from rating would place it 30th, just below Italy, and New York’s
families with high education. The relative performance of 40 percent rating entitles it to assume position number 31,
the U.S. education system is pretty much the same across just below Turkey. Florida’s 38 percent rating gives it the
social groups. It is weak at the bottom, no less weak at the 32nd position, just below Sweden, which has registered an
middle, and just as weak with respect to educating the most- abysmal performance given its level of economic develop-
advantaged. As Secretary Duncan said, it is not a problem ment. Ranked near the bottom, Alabama, West Virginia,
of some other person’s child. and Louisiana do worse than all OECD countries with the
exception of Chile and Mexico. (See Figure 5 for an overall
portrait of the pattern among the states.)
Ranking States Similar to the international comparisons, states that rank
The overall math proficiency rate of 15-year-olds varies well for math education among students with high parental
widely among the states—from a high of 51 percent in education tend also to rank highly for students from less-
Massachusetts to a low of 19 percent in Mississippi. Striking advantaged backgrounds. But some high-performing states,
differences remain when one divides students according such as Massachusetts, Vermont, and Colorado, do relatively
to parental education. For students from families with low better with students from families with higher educational
parental education levels, Texas (28%) and New Jersey backgrounds than they do with their less-advantaged peers.

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U.S. STUDENT PROFICIENCY HANUSHEK, PETERSON & WOESSMANN

Student Proficiency Overall (Figure 1)

Percentage at or above proficiency level in math among all students in the Class of 2015 in U.S. states and OECD countries.

Rank Rank % proficient Rank Rank % proficient

Among Among Political in U.S. Among Among Political in U.S.
Countries States Jurisdiction Countries States Jurisdiction
1 Korea 65.0% 24 20 Wyoming 37.4%

2 Japan 59.2 24 Italy 37.4

3 Switzerland 57.3 25 Slovak Republic 37.1

4 Netherlands 54.7 26 21 North Carolina 37.0

5 Finland 51.8 26 Spain 36.9

6 Estonia 51.3 27 22 Idaho 36.9

7 1 Massachusetts 51.2 27 23 Alaska 35.2

7 Canada 51.0 27 24 Utah 34.9

8 Belgium 50.3 27 United States 34.7

9 Germany 50.0 28 Sweden 34.6

10 Poland 49.3 29 25 Indiana 34.1

11 2 Minnesota 47.6 29 26 Rhode Island 33.9

11 3 New Jersey 46.8 29 27 Iowa 33.6

11 Austria 46.3 29 Israel 33.3

12 4 Vermont 46.0 30 Hungary 33.1

12 5 Montana 45.6 31 28 Illinois 32.8

12 Australia 45.0 31 29 Nebraska 32.8

13 Czech Republic 43.7 31 30 Oregon 32.7

14 Ireland 43.6 31 31 Delaware 31.9

15 6 New Hampshire 43.6 31 32 South Carolina 31.8

15 7 Colorado 43.5 31 33 Missouri 31.5

15 New Zealand 43.4 31 34 Arizona 31.5

16 Slovenia 42.8 31 35 Michigan 30.8

17 Denmark 42.8 31 36 Kentucky 30.7

18 8 North Dakota 42.6 31 37 New York 30.0

18 France 42.4 31 38 Hawaii 30.0

19 9 South Dakota 41.7 31 39 Arkansas 29.3

19 United Kingdom 41.3 31 40 Nevada 28.6

20 10 Wisconsin 41.0 31 41 Georgia 27.8

20 11 Kansas 40.8 31 42 Florida 27.7

20 Iceland 40.7 31 43 Oklahoma 27.3

21 12 Washington 40.4 31 44 California 25.3

21 13 Maryland 40.4 31 Greece 24.0

21 Luxembourg 40.3 32 45 Tennessee 23.9

22 14 Texas 40.0 32 46 New Mexico 23.8

22 15 Virginia 39.7 32 Turkey 22.6

22 Norway 39.3 33 47 Louisiana 22.3

23 16 Ohio 38.9 33 48 West Virginia 21.3

23 17 Pennsylvania 38.9 33 49 Alabama 20.1

23 Portugal 38.8 33 50 Mississippi 19.3

24 18 Maine 38.8 33 Chile 13.5

24 19 Connecticut 38.1 34 Mexico 8.8

NOTE: States ranked against the OECD countries without displacing any countries in the rank order and without regard to the position of other states.
SOURCE : Authors’ calculations

[Link] F A L L 2 0 1 4 / E DU CA TION NEX T 13

 Student Proficiency, Low Parental Education (Figure 2)

Percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose parents have a low level of education in the Class
of 2015 in U.S. states and OECD countries.

Rank Rank % proficient Rank Rank % proficient

Among Among Political in U.S. Among Among Political in U.S.
Countries States Jurisdiction Countries States Jurisdiction
1 Korea 45.7% 25 19 Hawaii 15.5%

2 Netherlands 36.9 25 20 South Dakota 15.1

3 Germany 34.6 25 21 Virginia 14.9

4 Japan 33.6 25 Turkey 14.4

5 Switzerland 32.6 26 Norway 14.0

6 Finland 27.7 27 22 Vermont 13.9

7 1 Texas 27.6 27 23 Florida 13.5

7 Estonia 27.4 27 24 Idaho 13.1

8 Portugal 26.6 27 25 Georgia 12.9

9 Australia 25.8 27 Slovenia 12.4

10 Iceland 25.2 28 26 Rhode Island 12.4

11 Belgium 25.0 28 27 New York 12.2

12 2 New Jersey 24.8 28 28 Oregon 12.1

12 Ireland 23.2 28 29 Nevada 12.0

13 Canada 23.1 28 30 Ohio 11.9

14 3 New Hampshire 22.4 28 Czech Republic 11.9

14 Italy 22.1 29 31 Connecticut 11.6

15 4 North Carolina 22.1 29 32 Nebraska 11.3

15 Spain 20.8 29 33 Colorado 11.3

16 5 Montana 19.7 29 34 Louisiana 11.3

16 New Zealand 19.0 29 35 South Carolina 10.6

17 Luxembourg 18.8 29 36 Tennessee 10.6

18 United Kingdom 18.8 29 37 Missouri 10.5

19 6 Kansas 18.6 29 38 Mississippi 10.4

19 7 Massachusetts 18.5 29 39 Pennsylvania 10.2

19 8 Minnesota 17.9 29 40 Iowa 10.1

19 Denmark 17.5 29 41 Wisconsin 9.9

20 9 Delaware 17.4 29 42 Oklahoma 9.8

20 10 Washington 17.0 29 43 Michigan 9.5
20 United States 16.7 29 44 Alabama 9.2
21 11 Maryland 16.7 29 45 New Mexico 9.1
21 12 Arizona 16.6 29 46 California 8.8
21 13 Maine 16.4 29 Greece 8.6
21 Austria 16.3 30 Hungary 7.2
22 France 16.3 31 Israel 6.3
23 14 Illinois 16.3 32 47 West Virginia 6.2
23 15 Arkansas 16.2 32 48 Utah 5.4
23 16 Kentucky 16.0 32 Mexico 4.7
23 17 Indiana 16.0 33 Slovak Republic 2.3
23 Sweden 15.7 34 Chile 2.3
24 Poland 15.7
25 18 Wyoming 15.6

NOTES: See note in Figure 1. No data are available for Alaska and North Dakota.
SOURCE : Authors’ calculations

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U.S. STUDENT PROFICIENCY HANUSHEK, PETERSON & WOESSMANN

Student Proficiency, High Parental Education (Figure 3)

Percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose parents have a high level of education in the Class
of 2015 in U.S. states and OECD countries.

Rank Rank % proficient Rank Rank % proficient

Among Among Political in U.S. Among Among Political in U.S.
Countries States Jurisdiction Countries States Jurisdiction
1 Korea 72.8% 22 United Kingdom 48.5%

2 Poland 71.2 23 22 Wyoming 48.2

3 Japan 67.9 23 23 North Carolina 48.1

4 Switzerland 64.9 23 24 Rhode Island 48.0

5 Germany 63.7 23 25 Utah 47.8

6 1 Massachusetts 62.3 23 Spain 47.1

6 Netherlands 60.9 24 26 Indiana 46.9

7 Belgium 60.6 24 27 Oregon 46.9

8 2 Vermont 59.3 24 Hungary 46.6

8 Portugal 59.1 25 Iceland 45.7

9 3 Minnesota 59.0 26 28 Illinois 45.6

9 Czech Republic 58.2 26 Norway 45.1

10 4 Colorado 58.1 27 Israel 45.0

10 5 New Jersey 57.9 28 29 Iowa 44.9

10 6 Montana 57.5 28 30 Nebraska 44.8

10 Estonia 56.6 28 31 Kentucky 44.1

11 Slovenia 56.5 28 United States 43.3

12 Canada 56.5 29 32 South Carolina 43.1

13 Finland 55.8 29 Italy 42.6

14 New Zealand 55.3 30 33 California 42.6

15 France 55.3 30 34 Missouri 42.3

16 Australia 55.2 30 35 Michigan 42.0

17 Austria 54.8 30 36 Oklahoma 41.8

18 7 Washington 54.3 30 37 Nevada 41.7

18 8 Texas 54.2 30 38 Delaware 40.9

18 Slovak Republic 54.0 30 Turkey 40.5

19 Luxembourg 53.1 31 39 Arkansas 40.2

20 9 New Hampshire 53.0 31 40 New York 39.8

20 Ireland 52.9 31 Sweden 39.1

21 10 Virginia 52.6 32 41 Georgia 38.2

21 11 Wisconsin 52.6 32 42 Hawaii 37.5

21 12 Kansas 52.2 32 43 Florida 37.5

21 13 Maryland 52.0 32 44 New Mexico 37.1

21 14 South Dakota 51.6 32 45 Tennessee 34.1

21 15 Connecticut 51.3 32 Greece 32.3

21 16 Pennsylvania 50.7 33 46 West Virginia 31.9

21 17 North Dakota 50.2 33 47 Louisiana 28.1

21 Denmark 50.0 33 48 Alabama 27.8

22 18 Ohio 49.8 33 Chile 26.0

22 19 Idaho 49.6 34 49 Mississippi 25.6

22 20 Maine 49.4 34 Mexico 14.1

22 21 Arizona 49.1

NOTES: See note in Figure 1. No data are available for Alaska.

SOURCE : Authors’ calculations

[Link] F A L L 2 0 1 4 / E DU CA TION NEX T 15

 Which States Do Well with Students from Less-Educated Families? (Figure 4)

Percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose parents have a low level of education in the Class
of 2015 in U.S. states.

States ranked Top 10

States ranked 11-20
States ranked 21-30
States ranked 31-40
States ranked 41 and below
No data available

Advanced Performance in Math are Korea (30%), Japan (23%), Switzerland (20%), Belgium
The U.S. economic strength has been built in large part (19%), the Netherlands (18%), Germany (17%), Poland
through its record of invention and innovation, things that (16%), and Canada (16%). Disturbingly, our neighbor to the
themselves depend upon the country’s historic strength in north turns out twice as high a percentage of students at the
science, technical, engineering, and math fields (STEM). The advanced level in math as the United States.
pool of people prepared to go into these fields in the future is The percentage scoring at the advanced level is only 2
dependent on students who have developed advanced skills percent for U.S. students from families with low levels of
in math and science in school. educational attainment and only 4 percent for students from
Eight percent of the U.S. class of 2015 proved its merit moderately educated families. Those disgraceful numbers
by scoring at the advanced level on the NAEP in math. That could be offset by unusually high performances among the
could be regarded as a triumph were it not for the fact that better-educated, however. Does the United States achieve a
it leaves the United States 28th on the OECD list. Other breakthrough at least among this group? Some may wish to
countries do a much better job at bringing students up to take pride in the fact that 12 percent of the students from
the advanced level of performance. The eight world leaders better-educated families reach the advanced level in math.

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U.S. STUDENT PROFICIENCY HANUSHEK, PETERSON & WOESSMANN

Which States Do Well with Students from Better-Educated Families? (Figure 5)

Percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose parents have a high level of education in the
Class of 2015 in U.S. states.

States ranked Top 10

States ranked 11-20
States ranked 21-30
States ranked 31-40
States ranked 41 and below
No data available

But such pride is misplaced, as the feat still leaves the United just ahead of Turkey and Greece. The two lowest-performing
States in the 28th position out of the 34 OECD countries. Only states, Alabama and Louisiana, however, do outrank the two
Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Chile, and Mexico do worse. lowest-performing OECD countries—Chile and Mexico.
The same states—Massachusetts, New Jersey, Minnesota,
and Vermont—are top performers on this measure for stu-
Advanced Performance by State dents from families with high educational backgrounds; in
The four states with 13 percent or more students performing all four plus Colorado, 18 percent or more of such students
at the advanced level in math are Massachusetts, New Jersey, perform at the advanced level. That places them in the same
Minnesota, and Vermont, with the Bay State taking honors with league as Canada and France but well behind Korea, Poland,
15 percent of its students scoring at that level. All of these states Japan, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. But only 15
rank alongside the top 13 OECD countries, and Massachusetts percent perform at this level in Pennsylvania and 14 percent
ranks 9th, just below Canada, though still well below Korea in Wisconsin, and less than 10 percent do so in New York,
and Japan. With less than 7 percent of students performing Michigan, and Florida. If states do well with students from
at the advanced level, New York and California rank 31st, better-educated family backgrounds, they tend to do well with

[Link] F A L L 2 0 1 4 / E DU CA TION NEX T 17

those from less-educated ones. But there are clear exceptions by the distance between suburbia and the inner city. But once
to this pattern. West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi score the focus shifts to countries abroad and fair, apples-to-apples
particularly badly on their capacity to teach students from comparisons are made, it becomes manifest that nearly all
more-educated backgrounds. of our young people—from privileged and not-so-privileged
backgrounds—are not faring well.
Some say that we must cure poverty before we can address
Conclusions the achievement problems in our schools. Others say that our
Lacking good information, it has been easy even for sophis- schools are generally doing fine, except for the schools serving
ticated Americans to be seduced by apologists who would the poor. Bringing an international perspective correctly to
have the public believe the problems are simply those of bear on the issue dispels both thoughts.
poor kids in central city schools. Our results point in quite The United States has two achievement gaps to be
the opposite direction. We find that the international rank- bridged—the one between the advantaged and the disad-
ings of the United States and the individual states are not vantaged and the one between itself and its peers abroad.
much different for students from advantaged backgrounds Neither goal need be sacrificed to attain the other.
than for those from disadvantaged ones. Although a higher
proportion of U.S. students from better-educated families Eric A. Hanushek is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of
are proficient, that is equally true for similarly situated Stanford University. Paul E. Peterson is professor of government
students in other countries. Compared to their counterparts and director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance
abroad, however, U.S. students from advantaged homes lag at Harvard University. Ludger Woessmann is professor of eco-
severely behind. nomics at the University of Munich and director of the Ifo Center
As long as the focus remains on distinctions within the for the Economics of Education and Innovation. An unabridged
United States, then the comfortable can remain comforted version of this report is available at [Link]/pepg/.

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18 ED U C A T I O N N E X T / F A L L 2 0 1 4 [Link]