Study Reports U.S. Students in STEM Subjects Rank ABOVE Foreign Counterparts

November 30, 2007

Students in the United States are being unfairly maligned. New research contradicts conventional wisdom about U.S. students not keeping up in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and, hence, a projected decline in the availability of skilled workers and U.S. competitiveness.

International test rankings, which have long been cited as evidence of a national decline in mathematics and science (and which inform national educational policy), are off the mark. The reason is that the tests themselves are flawed, Hal Salzman told EE Times. Salzman is a senior research associate at the Urban Institute, the Washington-based organization that issued the report.

The report claims that U.S. students are doing well compared to counterparts in Asia. Moreover, the U.S. is educating enough scientists and engineers to maintain its global competitiveness.

Overall, U.S. students have taken more mathematics, science, and foreign language courses over the past 10 years than in previous decades, the study found. In 1990, only 45 percent of high school students took chemistry. By 2004, the percentage had risen to 60 percent. The proportion of students that hit the math books for three years jumped from 49 percent in 1990 to 72 percent in 2004, while those taking math for four years increased from 29 percent to 50 percent. SAT math and science scores showed similar gains.

The skills that testing evaluates may not be the skills necessary for innovation in a global economy. "Japan, Singapore and [South] Korea do have the kind of education that leads to [better] test performance, but does that lead to more innovation, better jobs, and a better economy?" Salzman asked.

Salzman said it makes little sense to compare math and science scores in tiny Singapore with those from the much larger United States. In India, in fact, policymakers have argued against equating educational success with economic performance. The Urban Institute's study notes that the Indian subcontinent has a 39-percent illiteracy rate and high school enrollment of less than 50 percent. It owes its success, instead, to a small percentage of its citizens, Salzman said.

Therefore, "the use of average rates across a diverse group of nations and diverse populations is of limited use in drawing conclusions about global standing economically or educationally," the report concluded.

Criticism of testing methods comes even from those who disagree with the study's conclusions. "When you're testing a broader selection, it's going to put the U.S. at a disadvantage," said George Haley, director for the Center for International Industry Competitiveness at the University of New Haven. Lower-performing students reduce the U.S. average. In other countries, they wouldn't even be eligible to take the tests, Haley said.

Source: EE Times, Nov. 6, 2007.