When did American education start to slip?

Reports of the school-aged population in the United States scoring lower on international testing are old hat these days, but a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the mathematical and technical skill level of adults in its member nations is raising eyebrows from New York to the West Coast.

The New York Times summarizes some of the very disturbing findings.

The well-known skills gap for our younger citizens apparently extends well into the majority of adults of working age in the United States.

Summarizes the Times:

“In the United States, young adults in particular fare poorly compared with their international competitors of the same ages — not just in math and technology, but also in literacy.

More surprisingly, even middle-aged Americans — who, on paper, are among the best-educated people of their generation anywhere in the world — are barely better than middle of the pack in skills.”

Wow!

The Times continues:

“The United States ranked near the middle in literacy and near the bottom in skill with numbers and technology. In number skills, just 9 percent of Americans scored in the top two of five proficiency levels, compared with a 23-country average of 12 percent, and 19 percent in Finland, Japan and Sweden.”

The report also highlights the achievement gap problem in this country. While the US tended to have more people score at the very top on these new OECD tests, we also had more at the bottom than other countries. Those scoring low are at great risk in the new and more demanding world economy.

The new information also implies a decay in American education has been under way for decades. Why has it taken so long for us to detect this problem?