Study: U.S. students still lag behind in science, math

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WASHINGTON -- Despite more than four years of efforts to improve U.S. students' performance in math and science, the latest report card shows them still well behind their counterparts in many industrialized Asian and European nations.

In the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, U.S. eighth-graders trailed students from more than a dozen other countries, showing only slight improvement from the first set of tests in 1995. The study, released Tuesday, also mirrored results from 1995 that showed U.S. students performing worse as they grow older.

VIDEO CNN's Pat Etheridge examines clues as to why U.S. students are scoring low compared to those in other developed countries Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     RESOURCES Sample questions from the study, the answers, and how U.S. children performed compared to the international average CNN's FYI: A student/teacher online resource     MESSAGE BOARD Changes in education

U.S. educators blamed a lack of follow-through on improvement plans developed after the 1995 tests, which also included fourth and 12th-graders. The latest tests, conducted in 1999, covered only eighth-graders.

"Obviously, teachers in some of the other countries are doing a better job of teaching the material. And the students are doing a better job of learning," said Gary Phillips of the National Center for Education Statistics.

The study shows that out of 23 countries which took the tests in both 1995 and 1999, U.S. students placed 17th in math and 16th in science in 1999, compared with 17th in math and 15th in science in 1995. Asian students topped the list in both categories.

Students were asked questions about algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry and other topics that children would have been expected to have covered at their grade level. Some questions required detailed calculations or explanations.

More than 100,000 children, including 9,072 from the United States, were picked randomly from each nation's eighth-graders or the national equivalent and were tested in the primary language of instruction.

Officials from the U.S. Education Department officials, which funded and administered the U.S. tests, cautioned against comparisons -- either to current nations or to 1995 rankings.

"It would be incorrect to assume no learning is taking place," said department researcher Patrick Gonzales. The scores "could indicate a pace of change in other nations that is significantly faster."

"It's not surprising that in four years we haven't seen real changes," said Christopher Cross of Council on Basic Education, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington. "What would be really upsetting is that in another four years we would see things looking exactly the same," Cross said.

Other nations had different reactions to their students' standings.

"We are looking at ourselves, not comparing ourselves with other countries," said Thailand's Chaiwat Watcharamai, a national education testing official. Thailand scored below the U.S. in both science and math.

The U.S. version of the test results, released separately from an international version that lacked details about American students, said U.S. children spent more time on computers and using tools like calculators and workbooks than their international peers. But they did less homework.

U.S. education officials also point to a differing approach overseas, where math and science teachers have backgrounds in those subjects. In the United States, most math and science teachers are trained in the field of education.

"They have less topics in math in the eighth grade, but a lot deeper in content," said U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley. "They take that basic knowledge, deeper in content, and they're better able to do geometry and physics."

France and Germany were the only major industrialized nations that did not participate. The tests, which all nations were invited to give and were expected to pay for, drew three African countries, Middle Eastern states including Jordan and Iran, several Eastern European countries and a lone South American nation, Chile.

CNN Parenting Correspondent Pat Etheridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Third International Mathematics and Science Study
National Center for Education Statistics
Council for Basic Education

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