What Does the PISA Report Tell Us About U.S. Education?

When the OECD releases the PISA report every three years, many people use the ranking to claim public education in the U.S. is failing and push their corporate education reform agenda. But looking at the data, lessons that can be learned from the highest performing countries point in a completely different direction. For more information: http://go.aft.org/pisa #ReclaimIt

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

and ranks countries based on the results.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the achievement gap.

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

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

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

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

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

to quality educational materials.

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

for disadvantaged students.

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

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

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

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

compared to much higher rates in other countries.

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

In fact, looking into the PISA data,

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

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

and yet rank near the bottom in teacher pay.

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

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

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

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

from the top third of college graduates.

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

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

and supported throughout their careers.

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

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

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

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

Maybe we're not doing the right things.

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

we need to learn lessons from top performing countries.

Investing in early childhood education.

Targeting resources to the kids who need it the most.

Giving teachers time to prepare lessons and collaborate.

Proper implementation of a robust curriculum

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

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

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

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