NPR – Marc Silver
“”How well do today’s schools prepare for tomorrow’s world?” That’s the question in a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. This group administers the Program for International Student Assessment to 15-year-olds in 75 countries. The goal is to find out if they can use their math and science knowledge to answer a series of questions that measure skills needed for young people to make a contribution to the economy. The results from the latest round of testing, released this week, show that students struggle across the board — in rich and well-educated countries, in countries that are poor and where it can be difficult for youth to get a good education. For example, 89 percent of the test takers in Ghana didn’t achieve proficiency — and 24 percent of Americans failed, as well.”(more)