Houston, we have a problem

We have seen over the years that our students do not fare well in international tests.  Now, it seems we adults have moved in that direction.  The OECD has begun testing adults with a test called Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)  It was given in 2011 and 2012 to thousands of people, ages 16 to 65, in 23 countries.  The test was designed to assess skills in literacy and facility with basic math, or numeracy, in all 23 countries. In 19 countries, there was a third assessment, called “problem-solving in technology-rich environments,” on using digital devices to find and evaluate information, communicate, and perform common tasks. 

In all three fields, Japan ranked first and Finland second in average scores, with the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway near the top. Spain, Italy and France were at or near the bottom in literacy and numeracy, and were not included in the technology assessment.

The United States ranked near the middle in literacy and near the bottom in skill with numbers and technology. In number skills, just 9 percent of Americans scored in the top two of five proficiency levels, compared with a 23-country average of 12 percent, and 19 percent in Finland, Japan and Sweden.

In the words of Arne Duncan, Education Secretary, the results “show our education system hasn’t done enough to help Americans compete — or position our country to lead — in a global economy that demands increasingly higher skills.”  In my words I think the results are another indication that we are in a downward spiral.  The only way to shift upward is to first acknowledge reality and then do something about it.  America was an exception for most of the 20th century.  It no longer is and has not been for perhaps the last 20 or so years.