New York Post wrote:


WASHINGTON — It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.

In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength – American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.

Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.

Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.

In both reading and math, for example, those with college-educated parents did better than those whose parents did not complete high school.

The study, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, found that it was easier on average to overcome this and other barriers to literacy overseas than in the United States.

Researchers tested about 166,000 people ages 16 to 65 in more than 20 countries and subnational regions. The test was developed and released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of mostly industrialized member countries. The Education Department’s Center for Education Statistics participated.

The findings were equally grim for many European countries – Italy and Spain, among the hardest hit by the recession and debt crisis, ranked at the bottom across generations. Unemployment is well over 25 percent in Spain and over 12 percent in Italy. Spain has drastically cut education spending, drawing student street protests.

But in the northern European countries that have fared better, the picture was brighter – and the study credits continuing education. In Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, more than 60 percent of adults took part in either job training or continuing education. In Italy, by contrast, the rate was half that.

As the American economy sputters along and many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly-skilled workforce is key to economic recovery. The median hourly wage of workers scoring on the highest level in literacy on the test is more than 60 percent higher than for workers scoring at the lowest level, and those with low literacy skills were more than twice as likely to be unemployed.

“It’s not just the kids who require more and more preparation to get access to the economy, it’s more and more the adults don’t have the skills to stay in it,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement the nation needs to find ways to reach more adults to upgrade their skills. Otherwise, he said, “no matter how hard they work, these adults will be stuck, unable to support their families and contribute fully to our country.”

Among the other findings:

-Americans scored toward the bottom in the category of problem solving in a technology rich environment. The top five scores in the areas were from Japan, Finland, Australia, Sweden and Norway, while the US score was on par with England, Estonia, Ireland and Poland. In nearly all countries, at least 10 percent of adults lacked the most basic of computer skills such as using a mouse.

-Japanese and Dutch adults who were ages 25 to 34 and only completed high school easily outperformed Italian or Spanish university graduates of the same age.

-In England, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States, social background has a big impact on literacy skills, meaning the children of parents with low levels of education have lower reading skills.

America’s school kids have historically scored low on international assessment tests compared to other countries, which is often blamed on the diversity of the population and the high number of immigrants. Also, achievement tests have long shown that a large chunk of the US student population lacks basic reading and math skills – most pronounced among low-income and minority students.

This test could suggest students leaving high school without certain basic skills aren’t obtaining them later on the job or in an education program.

The United States will have a tough time catching up because money at the state and local level, a major source of education funding, has been slashed in recent years, said Jacob Kirkegaard, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“There is a race between man and machine here. The question here is always: Are you a worker for whom technology makes it possible to do a better job or are you a worker that the technology can replace?” he said. For those without the most basic skills, he said, the answer will be merciless and has the potential to extend into future generations. Learning is highly correlated with parents’ education level.

“If you want to avoid having an underclass – a large group of people who are basically unemployable – this educational system is absolutely key,” Kirkegaard said.

Dolores Perin, professor of psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, said the report provides a “good basis for an argument there should be more resources to support adults with low literacy.”

Adults can learn new skills at any age and there are adult-geared programs around the country, Perin said. But, she said, the challenge is ensuring the programs have quality teaching and that adults regularly attend classes.

“If you find reading and writing hard, you’ve been working hard all day at two jobs, you’ve got a young child, are you actually going to go to class? It’s challenging,” Perin said.

Some economists say that large skills gap in the United States could matter even more in the future. America’s economic competitors like China and India are simply larger than competitors of the past like Japan, Carnevale said. Even while America’s top 10 percent of students can compete globally, Carnevale said, that doesn’t cut it. China and India did not participate in this assessment.

“The skills in the middle are required and we’re not producing them,” Carnevale said.

Respondents were selected as part of a nationally represented sample. The test was primarily taken at home using a computer, but some respondents used a printed test booklet.

Among the other findings:

-Japan, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Flanders-Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Korea all scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test.

-The average scores in literacy range from 250 in Italy to 296 in Japan. The US average score was 270. (500 was the highest score in all three areas.) Average scores in 12 countries were higher than the average US score.

-The average scores in math range from 246 in Spain to 288 in Japan. The US average score was 253, below 18 other countries.

-The average scores on problem solving in technology-rich environments ranged from 275 in Poland to 294 in Japan. The US average score was 277, below 14 other countries.

Young adults in England have scored among the lowest results in the industrialised world in international literacy and numeracy tests.

A major study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows how England's 16 to 24-year-olds are falling behind their Asian and European counterparts.

England is 22nd for literacy and 21st for numeracy out of 24 countries.

The OECD's Andreas Schleicher warned of a shrinking pool of skilled workers.

Unlike other developed countries, the study also showed that young people in England are no better at these tests than older people, in the 55 to 65 age range.

When this is weighted with other factors, such as the socio-economic background of people taking the test, it shows that England is the only country in the survey where results are going backwards - with the older cohort better than the younger.

'Shocking'
The study shows that there are 8.5 million adults in England and Northern Ireland with the numeracy levels of a 10-year-old.

"This shocking report shows England has some of the least literate and numerate young adults in the developed world," said Skills Minister Matthew Hancock.

"These are Labour's children, educated under a Labour government and force-fed a diet of dumbing down and low expectations."

Continue reading the main story
Numeracy test 16 to 24-year-olds

Netherlands
Finland
Japan
Flanders (Belgium)
South Korea
Austria
Estonia
Sweden
Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Germany
Denmark
Norway
Australia
Poland
Canada
Cyprus
Northern Ireland
France
Ireland
England
Spain
Italy
United States
Source: OECD Survey of Adult Skills 2013

Ministers in England have announced a new maths qualification for 16 to 18 year olds as part of a drive to improve numeracy and its requirement that maths should be studied until the age 18 for those who do not have a good GCSE in the subject.

The newly-appointed shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt defended Labour's record.

"Labour drove up standards in maths and English across our schools, evident in the huge improvements we saw in GCSE results between 1997 and 2010."

He said a future Labour government would "ensure all young people study maths and English to 18" and would not allow "unqualified teachers to teach in our classrooms on a permanent basis".

Young adults in Northern Ireland performed better in the OECD tests than in England, but they were also in the bottom half of these rankings.

The highest-performing countries among this younger age group were Japan, Finland and the Netherlands. The country with the lowest numeracy skills was the United States, plummeting from once being one of the strongest education systems.

This landmark study from the OECD set out to measure the level of skills within the adult population - testing actual ability in literacy, numeracy and digital skills, rather than looking at qualifications.

It involved 166,000 adults taking tests in 24 education systems, representing populations of 724 million people. From the UK, adults in England and Northern Ireland participated.

The study looked at the level of skills across the adult population, between the ages of 16 and 65. England and Northern Ireland are below average for both literacy and numeracy, in league tables headed by Japan and Finland.

But for most industrialised countries the younger population are much better at such tests than the older generations.


Dr Jasper Kim describes South Korea's education system
Mr Schleicher pointed to the examples of Finland and South Korea where there had been huge progress in recent decades.

However, for England, when the results are separated from Northern Ireland, there was a different and unusual pattern, with almost no advance in test results between the 55 to 65-year-olds and those aged 16 to 24.

This younger group will have many more qualifications, but the test results show that these younger people have no greater ability than those approaching retirement who left schools with much lower qualifications in the 1960s and 1970s.

The grandchildren are not any better at these core skills than their grandparents.

Global race
Mr Schleicher says it might suggest evidence of grade inflation and it shows that better qualifications do not necessarily mean better skills.

"When you look at this snapshot you do have to conclude that these young people are not any better skilled when it comes to those foundation skills than people in the older generation," he said.

He warned of the serious economic implications of a failure to provide a skilled workforce.

Andreas Schleicher
Andreas Schleicher has warned that young adults in England are falling behind other countries
The influential OECD expert showed how there was an increasing demand in the jobs market for those with higher skills - and a static or falling jobs market for those with lower skills.

England and Northern Ireland have particularly high levels of adults with the lowest skill level in literacy and numeracy.

The economic and social rewards for having high skills are particularly strong in England and Northern Ireland, says the research, with significant advantages in health, job opportunities and income.

The global economic race is strongly linked to educational performance and the OECD report shows how the UK's share of the highest skilled workers is falling.

An even sharper decline is faced by the United States, an education superpower of a previous generation. Last year the OECD warned that the US was almost the only developed country facing educational "downward mobility", where the younger population is less well educated than the older generation.

This latest study shows that the US once had 42% of the world's highest-skilled adults but this had now fallen to 28%.

Mr Schleicher set out the scale of the difference in ability, saying that many secondary school pupils in Japan were ahead of graduates in England.

Neil Carberry, the CBI's director for employment and skills, said the UK's economic future depended on improving the skills of the workforce.

"This survey simply emphasises that the UK cannot afford to stand still on skills."

Ian Brinkley, director at the Work Foundation think tank, said the study showed the UK faced a "relative decline in the economy's skills base".

"We face a major generational challenge."

 daedalus wrote:
America bad, rabble rabble!

 Ahtman wrote:

 daedalus wrote:
America bad, rabble rabble!

It doesn't say America is bad, but there is a problematic trend emerging. Ignoring the data seems to simultaneously strengthen the argument being presented while also exacerbating it.

 daedalus wrote:

Hence my desire to see the original study.

 dæl wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

Hence my desire to see the original study.

Here is the full 466 page study.
Here is a 32 page summary.

 dementedwombat wrote:
Well I'm an American and I'm dumb as a post, so I'd believe it

(and yes, I realize that statement is logically flawed on so many levels...)

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
It also doesnt help that American Is the hardest flipping language to learn

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
It also doesnt help that American Is the hardest flipping language to learn

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
It also doesnt help that American Is the hardest flipping language to learn

 Hulksmash wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
It also doesnt help that American Is the hardest flipping language to learn

Not sure if serious......

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
It also doesnt help that American Is the hardest flipping language to learn

 Cheesecat wrote:
Probably has to mostly do with policy and culture.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Like many value hard work over intelligence.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

It could also be that americans tend to focus more on critical thinking on actual learning language.

 LordofHats wrote:
If the internet has taught me anything, it's that the general American fails at critical thinking.

 LordofHats wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

It could also be that americans tend to focus more on critical thinking on actual learning language.

If the internet has taught me anything, it's that the general American fails at critical thinking.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
I'm so happy Canada is... above you guys. Not a front-runner, but above England and the US.

Just joking. It is a bit alarming, but I can see it in the kids I get sent from the elementary school system.

 Alfndrate wrote:

With that being said, what makes English a difficult language to learn is the nuances, turn of phrases, and idioms we have. When I say, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" sto someone that doesn't know what I'm talking about I get blank stares because they're caught up on the concept of birds in hands (whether I have one or not).

 Fafnir wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

With that being said, what makes English a difficult language to learn is the nuances, turn of phrases, and idioms we have. When I say, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" sto someone that doesn't know what I'm talking about I get blank stares because they're caught up on the concept of birds in hands (whether I have one or not).

But I'd imagine that "A bird in the bush is worth two in the hand" would be instantly understandable, regardless of your understanding of idioms.

 Alfndrate wrote:
Americans have plenty of trouble learning how to critically think. We also have issues thinking a problem through to it's logical conclusion. If we mastered those skills, the entire redneck and hilljack populations wouldn't exist because they'd have learned that saying, "Ya'll come watch this!" is probably going to lead to a death, and they'd quickly realize that they shouldn't be acting this way and seek to better themselves.

With that being said, what makes English a difficult language to learn is the nuances, turn of phrases, and idioms we have. When I say, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" sto someone that doesn't know what I'm talking about I get blank stares because they're caught up on the concept of birds in hands (whether I have one or not).