A sobering report on the performance of American students relative to their peers in other countries should be a wake-up call for the nation, Secretary Duncan said Tuesday.
The latest scores of the world’s 15-year-olds on an international test of reading, math and science show the United States is merely an average performer, whose growth during this time of rising demand for highly educated workers has been stagnant. The good news, Duncan said, is that the U.S. is now pursuing education reforms that are hallmarks of top-performing countries, including high standards and investment in effective teaching.
“The mediocre performance of America’s students is a problem we cannot afford to accept and yet cannot afford to ignore,” Arne said in Washington alongside officials from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD presented the latest results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures how well students from more than 70 economies are prepared to meet the challenges they may encounter in the future.
Secretary Duncan provided this summary of U.S. students’ performance on the 2009 PISA:
■In reading literacy, 15-year-old American students were average performers. The U.S. effectively showed no improvement in reading since 2000. Overall, the OECD’s rankings have U.S. students in 14th place in reading literacy among OECD nations.
■In mathematics, U.S. 15-year-olds are below-average performers among OECD nations—ranked 25th. After a dip in our 2006 math scores, U.S. students returned to the same level of performance in 2009 as six years earlier, in 2003. U.S. students outperformed their peers in math in only five OECD countries.
■The most encouraging finding from PISA is that our average science score is up. In 2006, American 15-year-olds had below-average skills in scientific literacy, compared to their OECD peers. Today, U.S. students have improved enough to become average performers in science among OECD nations, earning 17th place in the OECD rankings.
“The hard truth,” Secretary Duncan said at Tuesday’s PISA announcement, “is that other high-performing nations have passed us by during the last two decades…In a highly competitive knowledge economy, maintaining the educational status quo means America’s students are effectively losing ground.”
PISA’s high-scorers include South Korea, Finland and Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China, and Canada.
How much money the U.S. spends on education isn’t the problem. We spend more per student than any nation in the PISA study except Luxembourg.
“The real problem with K-12 spending in the U.S. is our low educational productivity,” Arne said. “Unlike high-performing systems, we achieve less per dollar. And we do less to target spending on the most challenged students and schools.”
All but three nations in the OECD study—the U.S., Israel and Turkey—spend as much, or more, on those schools serving disadvantaged students as they do on those serving more privileged students.
A separate OECD study of the characteristics of the world’s top-performing education systems, along with a similar study of American and international practices by McKinsey & Company, suggests that the U.S. can improve our standing by continuing to pursue reforms that have taken root in states and local school districts within the last two years. High-scoring nations set rigorous standards for their students, smartly use data to improve instruction, concentrate resources on the most challenged students, and invest heavily in the teaching profession. Those successful nations’ practices closely mirror the priorities of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program, OECD and McKinsey found.
“Our policies are moving us in the right direction,” Arne said. “Yet to lead the world again in achievement and college attainment, success must become the norm.”
To continue and deepen the conversation among nations’ education policymakers and educators, the U.S. Department of Education, OECD and other partners will convene an international summit on the teaching profession in New York in March, Arne announced today.
“The highest-performing and most rapidly improving countries have a great deal to learn from one another,” he said.
The announcement of America’s middling performance on PISA followed President Obama’s call Monday for rebuilding our nation’s economy on a new and stronger foundation. Education and innovation are critical, he said, declaring, “Our generation’s Sputnik moment is now.” In a generation, the United States has fallen from 1st place to 9th place in the proportion of young people with college degrees. The President has set a national goal of regaining 1st place by 2020.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Strumming and Drumming with Local Students and Music Educators at ED
The percussive rhythm of tambourines and African drums as well as the sound of ukuleles and acoustic guitars filled the outdoor plaza at the Department of Education on Tuesday, May 10, when the nonprofit National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) brought its “Strumming and Drumming for Music Education” program to Washington. The event aimed to promote local student talent and raise awareness about the importance of music education in our nation’s schools.
Students from George Fox and Lime Kiln Middle Schools in Maryland showed off their skill in a large drum circle, led by musicians Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, a two-time Grammy-Award-winning duo. Joining the students in their music-making were NAMM representatives; local music educators; former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley; former New York Yankee Bernie Williams; as well as Peter Cunningham, assistant secretary of communications and outreach; and Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary of innovation and improvement. ED employees and passersby were encouraged to pick up a ukulele or drum and join in the outdoor jam session.
Earlier this month, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) released its landmark report, Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools. The culmination of 18 months of research, meetings with stakeholders, and site visits throughout the country, this report reviews the current condition of arts education in America’s schools and reaffirms recent studies that have shown a link between high-quality arts programming and increased student achievement.
Students from George Fox and Lime Kiln Middle Schools in Maryland showed off their skill in a large drum circle, led by musicians Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, a two-time Grammy-Award-winning duo. Joining the students in their music-making were NAMM representatives; local music educators; former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley; former New York Yankee Bernie Williams; as well as Peter Cunningham, assistant secretary of communications and outreach; and Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary of innovation and improvement. ED employees and passersby were encouraged to pick up a ukulele or drum and join in the outdoor jam session.
Earlier this month, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) released its landmark report, Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools. The culmination of 18 months of research, meetings with stakeholders, and site visits throughout the country, this report reviews the current condition of arts education in America’s schools and reaffirms recent studies that have shown a link between high-quality arts programming and increased student achievement.
U.S. Higher Education Community
Special Events for U.S. Institutional Representatives and Higher Education Professional Organizations:
2nd EducationUSA Forum, June 22-24, 2011 Washington D.C.
Registration Closes May 15!
REGISTER NOW for the EducationUSA Forum 2011 to access:
Advisers from 45 countries to provide you with on-the-ground insight on international recruiting.
•Including: China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria & more!
•Market research from each world region!
U.S. State Department leaders eager to strengthen partnership with the higher education community to increase international student mobility.
24 topical & 6 regional sessions, including:
•Recruiting on a shoestring
•Overseas social media strategies
•SEVIS and Consular information
•Foreign government scholarship programs
•Using EducationUSA to organize your recruitment tour!
•Special Session: Spotlight China
2nd EducationUSA Forum, June 22-24, 2011 Washington D.C.
Registration Closes May 15!
REGISTER NOW for the EducationUSA Forum 2011 to access:
Advisers from 45 countries to provide you with on-the-ground insight on international recruiting.
•Including: China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria & more!
•Market research from each world region!
U.S. State Department leaders eager to strengthen partnership with the higher education community to increase international student mobility.
24 topical & 6 regional sessions, including:
•Recruiting on a shoestring
•Overseas social media strategies
•SEVIS and Consular information
•Foreign government scholarship programs
•Using EducationUSA to organize your recruitment tour!
•Special Session: Spotlight China
Welcome To EducationUSA
Quality:
U.S. colleges are known worldwide for the quality of their facilities, resources, and faculty. Accreditation systems ensure that institutions continue to maintain these standards.
Choice:
The U.S. education system features many types of institutions, academic and social environments, entry requirements, degree programs, and subjects in which you can specialize.
Value:
A U.S. degree offers excellent value for the money. A wide range of tuition fees and living costs, plus some financial help from colleges, make study in the United States affordable for hundreds of thousands of international students each year.
Flexibility:
U.S. universities and colleges offer flexibility in choice of courses, but more importantly there is also the option for students to move from institution to another. Completing the first two years of a degree at one institution, usually a community college, and then moving to another, is very common.
"One year in the U.S. opened a new world of opportunities, which enabled me to grow personally and professionally. I chose to study in the U.S. because of the enormous opportunities that are available for people seeking personal and professional growth."
– Rustem, from Kazakhstan
U.S. colleges are known worldwide for the quality of their facilities, resources, and faculty. Accreditation systems ensure that institutions continue to maintain these standards.
Choice:
The U.S. education system features many types of institutions, academic and social environments, entry requirements, degree programs, and subjects in which you can specialize.
Value:
A U.S. degree offers excellent value for the money. A wide range of tuition fees and living costs, plus some financial help from colleges, make study in the United States affordable for hundreds of thousands of international students each year.
Flexibility:
U.S. universities and colleges offer flexibility in choice of courses, but more importantly there is also the option for students to move from institution to another. Completing the first two years of a degree at one institution, usually a community college, and then moving to another, is very common.
"One year in the U.S. opened a new world of opportunities, which enabled me to grow personally and professionally. I chose to study in the U.S. because of the enormous opportunities that are available for people seeking personal and professional growth."
– Rustem, from Kazakhstan
Your Official Source on U.S. Higher Education
EducationUSA is a global network of more than 400 advising centers supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) promotes mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through personal and professional ties between private citizens in the United States and abroad, as well as by presenting U.S. history, society, art and culture in all of its diversity to overseas audiences. U.S. and foreign students alike can prepare for leadership roles in today’s world through an international education.
EducationUSA Mission:
EducationUSA centers actively promote U.S. higher education around the world by offering accurate, unbiased, comprehensive, objective and timely information about educational institutions in the United States and guidance to qualified individuals on how best to access those opportunities. Millions of prospective students learn about U.S. study opportunities through EducationUSA centers each year. Centers are staffed by professional advisers, many of whom have first-hand experience having studied in the United States themselves, adhere to ethical standards, and/or have received State Department-approved training about U.S. higher education and the advising process.
EducationUSA centers also support U.S. study abroad by advising U.S. colleges and universities about options for developing study programs in other countries.
EducationUSA advisers work in a variety of host institutions, such as Fulbright Commissions, NGOs, U.S. embassies and consulates, bi-national centers, universities, and public libraries. Their common goal is to promote international student mobility.
Find the center nearest you
ECA cooperates with U.S-based NGOs to provide information to the U.S higher education community on international education policy, global education systems, how to recruit international students, how to cooperate with EducationUSA centers around the world, and how to maintain an international student-friendly campus and website. Contact us for more information.
The educationusa.info website is maintained by the Institute of International Education on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.
EducationUSA Mission:
EducationUSA centers actively promote U.S. higher education around the world by offering accurate, unbiased, comprehensive, objective and timely information about educational institutions in the United States and guidance to qualified individuals on how best to access those opportunities. Millions of prospective students learn about U.S. study opportunities through EducationUSA centers each year. Centers are staffed by professional advisers, many of whom have first-hand experience having studied in the United States themselves, adhere to ethical standards, and/or have received State Department-approved training about U.S. higher education and the advising process.
EducationUSA centers also support U.S. study abroad by advising U.S. colleges and universities about options for developing study programs in other countries.
EducationUSA advisers work in a variety of host institutions, such as Fulbright Commissions, NGOs, U.S. embassies and consulates, bi-national centers, universities, and public libraries. Their common goal is to promote international student mobility.
Find the center nearest you
ECA cooperates with U.S-based NGOs to provide information to the U.S higher education community on international education policy, global education systems, how to recruit international students, how to cooperate with EducationUSA centers around the world, and how to maintain an international student-friendly campus and website. Contact us for more information.
The educationusa.info website is maintained by the Institute of International Education on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.
Statement from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Illinois Education Bill
Statement from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Illinois Education Bill
"Illinois has done something truly remarkable, and every state committed to education reform should take notice. Business, unions, educators, advocates and elected officials all came together around a plan that puts children ahead of adults and paves the way for meaningful education reform. For some time now I have been saying that tough-minded collaboration is more productive than confrontation, and this is the proof. I respectfully urge Governor Quinn to sign this quickly so that Illinois can put these landmark reforms to work in the classroom."
"Illinois has done something truly remarkable, and every state committed to education reform should take notice. Business, unions, educators, advocates and elected officials all came together around a plan that puts children ahead of adults and paves the way for meaningful education reform. For some time now I have been saying that tough-minded collaboration is more productive than confrontation, and this is the proof. I respectfully urge Governor Quinn to sign this quickly so that Illinois can put these landmark reforms to work in the classroom."
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