US Reading Scores Lagging Behind China And Singapore [Op-Ed]

In news surprising to no one who’s been paying attention, U.S. teenagers’ reading scores are drastically behind those of teens in Singapore and several parts of China. 

News like that makes me so glad that we’re dismantling the Department of Education.

The New York Times reports that the scores stem from a test conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA tests 15-year-olds worldwide in math, science, and reading. 760,000 teenagers from 91 countries and economies took the test last year, including about 4,600 in the United States. China, Singapore, Japan, and Korea were among the top-scoring countries.

While U.S. students performed decently in science, reading scores reached their lowest level in nearly 25 years. 

“Our kids are going in the wrong direction on the skills that are absolutely essential for their — and our — success. Period. The end,” Margaret Spellings, a former education secretary under President George W. Bush, told The Times. She called for “urgent action at all levels.”

Tracey Burns, chief of global strategy and research for the National Center on Education and the Economy, told The Times that the average student tested in China was five years more advanced than an American student in math, and three years ahead in science. 

“Even a conservative read of these results is concerning,” Dr. Burns told The Times. 

From The New York Times:

The United States has long lagged the world’s best education systems, despite spending more on education than many countries.

Just 8 percent of American teenagers scored at the highest levels in math on the PISA, compared with 37 percent in Singapore, 23 percent in Korea and 22 percent in Japan. (In the Chinese sample, 54 percent of students scored at the top level in math.)

In reading, American students performed about as well as students in Australia and Canada. In science, American students competed with students in Switzerland and Finland.

But the share of American teenagers who failed to reach even a basic level of proficiency in reading and math, considered the minimum needed to read a utility bill, for example, has risen over the last decade.

Over the last 20 years, the economy has become more globalized, so American students are likely competing with their counterparts in China and Singapore for high-level jobs. 

Part of the reason our scores have gone down is the ubiquity of smartphones, AI, and other entertainment tech. Children and young adults simply aren’t reading for pleasure in the same way anymore. This is compounded by how American schools are using AI to make things easier for children. The Times found the opposite in countries like China, where AI is mostly used by teachers to make lessons harder for students. 

When I was a kiddo, my mom read to me every night before I could even read and made sure I read every day when I could. Studies have shown that reading to your child has a dramatic impact on their literacy skills as they grow older. While it’s debatable whether the U.S. education system will ever get its act together, parents can do something to help their kids compete globally in literacy. 

SEE ALSO:

Crying On TikTok Won’t Solve America’s Literacy Crisis [Op-Ed]

Who Protects Students From Teachers Who Turn Them Into Content?