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Every three years the OECD tests fifteen-year olds around the world at the PISA

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and ranks countries based on the results.

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And every three years, some people use the ranking to say U.S. public education is failing.

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They say we must privatize, test, incentivize, union-bust, cut, and fire our way to success.

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What they are hoping is that you'll look only at the rankings and not the lessons that can be learned

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from the highest performing countries. Because when you delve deeper, you will see that these countries

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have very different priorities from the ones they are pushing in the United States.

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One myth they perpetuate is that student performance in the U.S. is dropping like a rock.

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In fact, since the PISA study began, the United States' performance has been relatively consistent,

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slightly above average in reading, about average in science, and below average in math.

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Is this good enough? Of course not. Especially since other countries are improving at a faster rate.

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But to make real progress, we need to focus on what will help U.S. students improve the most.

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One thing PISA research makes clear, is that poverty's affect on educational equity matters.

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The United States has a much higher child poverty rate than most developed countries.

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If you compare apples to apples and divide up U.S. schools based on their poverty rate,

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U.S. schools with less than 10% poverty lead most top performing countries with similar rates.

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The same holds true with poverty rates between 10 and 24%, 25 and 49%, and between 50 and 75%.

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In each group, the U.S. is near the top.

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The PISA research also shows that high-performing countries are doing a better job reducing

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the achievement gap.

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Another myth is that we already spend the most of any country on education.

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So that proves that schools don't need more money.

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Actually, when you remove the high cost of college, the U.S. ranks only slightly above average.

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But, the real problem in the U.S. is the lack of equity in spending.

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The U.S. ranks near the bottom in providing poor children equal access

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to quality educational materials.

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And the U.S. is only one of four countries where student-to-teacher ratios are actually higher

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for disadvantaged students.

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Since the economic crisis, compared to the OECD average, U.S. education spending is moving in the

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wrong direction with a 1% cut. Only three countries have cut more.

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The U.S. also lags in early childhood education.

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Only 51% of three-year olds in the U.S. are enrolled in high-quality preschools,

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compared to much higher rates in other countries.

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Another myth perpetuated is that our teachers are overpaid and their workday is too short.

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In fact, looking into the PISA data,

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it's not hard to see why almost 50% of teachers in the U.S. quit within 5 years.

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U.S. primary school teachers spend the most hours teaching in the classroom among all PISA countries

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and yet rank near the bottom in teacher pay.

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In high performing countries, teachers don't work fewer hours.

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Rather, they use the extra time to collaborate, prepare lessons, grade papers,

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and talk with parents...all of which help student performance.

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Another myth is that other countries have better teachers because they only recruit

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from the top third of college graduates.

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OECD labels this claim as "not supported by evidence".

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Actually, high performing countries work to ensure all teachers are well-prepared

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and supported throughout their careers.

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Yet another myth is that the problem is obstruction from the teachers' unions.

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In fact, the highest performing countries like Japan and Finland have the strongest teachers' unions

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and the OECD recommends working with, rather than demonizing, unions.

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Maybe, just maybe, the problem is not the teachers or the unions or the parents or the students.

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Maybe we're not doing the right things.

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So this year, rather than wringing our hands about the U.S. ranking and doing the wrong things,

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we need to learn lessons from top performing countries.

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Investing in early childhood education.

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Targeting resources to the kids who need it the most.

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Giving teachers time to prepare lessons and collaborate.

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Proper implementation of a robust curriculum

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using tests to help teachers meet students' needs rather than as punishment.

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And treating teachers, community groups, and unions as partners in improving education.

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Only by implementing these proven reforms will we be able to reclaim the promise

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of a quality public education for all children in the United States.