CECM is constantly monitoring progress and legislation in other states to use as benchmarks and examples for Missouri. But, as the world continues to become more and more connected, it is increasingly important to apply the same indicators to the global picture. We created this data series to provide readers a look into how our country’s education compares to the rest of the world’s, using interactive data charts.
Just a warning, the data may shock you.

U.S. Ranks Merely 17th in Science

Top Preforming Students in PISA Science 2006

We learned last week that 25 countries outperformed the U.S. in mathematics. But maybe you assumed math just wasn’t our subject. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

See all 16 countries that are preforming above the U.S. in science education by scrolling over the different bars. All of the countries that outperformed the U.S. in science have also outperformed the U.S. in math. They include: Finland, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, Czech Republic, Estonia, Switzerland, Korea, Belgium, Austria and Ireland. Though countries excelled at different rates depending on the subject.

Finland has preformed 2.22 times better than the U.S. Once again, the difference between the top country and the U.S. score is greater then the total U.S. score.

What could this mean for the U.S.? This data means the U.S. could be less capable then other countries to advance in the area of science, which includes everything from medicine to space exploration. This, of course, could also effect career opportunities available in the U.S.

What is clear and very alarming is that the U.S. is not doing as good of job as it needs to in educating our children. This also shows the problem is not limited to one subject, but rather an issue of reforming our system of education as a whole.

Our country needs to protect our global future by making real changes to our schools. And CECM is fighting for this much-needed reform for our state.

Click here to view the math chart and be sure to check back next as we revel more shocking international education comparisons.

Data from the 2010 OECD Factbook

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