America's
high school rate slipping
U.S. is No. 10
as other nations educate greater percentages
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 • BY BEN FELLER •
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The United
States is falling behind other countries in having a high
school-educated public, with the gap widening the most among
young adults, a new comparison of industrialized nations
shows.
A total of 87 percent of
U.S. adults age 25 to 34 have finished high school, which
puts the country 10th behind such nations as Korea, Norway,
the Czech Republic and Japan.
The older the population,
the better the United States fares -- it remains first in
high school completion among older adults and fifth among
adults age 35 to 44. But other nations are making fast gains
among younger adults and passing the United States on the
way.
"They're catching up with
you in the proportion that finish school (and) the
proportion that go to college," said Barry McGaw, director
of education for the Paris-based Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, which develops the yearly
rankings.
"The one area you remain
ahead is how much you spend," McGaw told U.S. reporters
yesterday. "They don't need to catch up with you on quality,
because many of them are already ahead."
Although titled "Education
at a Glance," the yearly report has ballooned into a
450-page compilation. Measuring 30 countries, it relies
mostly on data from 2002 and 2001, although its achievement
figures date to 2000. Organizers call those the most current
numbers available.
The United States has a
higher share of its population with at least a four-year
college education -- 38 percent -- than any country other
than Canada. The United States is second, behind Norway, in
adults age 25 to 34 who have earned such a college
education.
But in higher education,
the United States is slipping, too, as other countries with
traditionally lower college rates are closing the gap, the
report says.
"If we are less
competitive educationally, we will soon become less
competitive economically," Education Secretary Rod Paige
said. "That's just a cruel fact."
The high school findings
come as President Bush, in a tight re-election race, has
promised more spending and testing in later grades to ensure
a high school diploma has value. His opponent, Democratic
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, has criticized Bush's
administration for failing to enforce the high school
graduation provisions of its own education law.
Paige said educational
progress by any country is good news but warned that U.S.
slippage could erode its leadership in the world. He
commended good schools yet said taxpayers must shed their
mentality "that every school is above average, especially
our own."
Among other
findings:
- The United States
finished near the top in fourth-grade reading performance
in a comparison of nine countries. But while four
countries showed increases from 1991 to 2001, the U.S.
performance was unchanged. One country, Sweden, dropped
in performance.
-
- The United States
spends more per student on all levels of education --
$10,871 -- than any other country. Per-student spending
in other nations ranges from less than $3,000 in Mexico,
Poland and the Slovak Republic to more than $8,000 in
Austria, Denmark and Norway.
-
- The United States has
the highest number of teaching hours per school year in
the primary and high school grades, and the
second-highest for middle school students.
- Under the nation's
education overhaul of 2002, schools must show yearly
progress for many historically disadvantaged groups,
including minorities and children who speak little
English. No other country in the economic coalition has
committed to measure achievement that way, a method
designed to ensure that schools do more to help
underperforming children.
- McGaw said it would
probably take a generation to see the enormous
educational improvement envisioned by the U.S.
government. But Paige disagreed, saying Bush's education
law will lead to results over the next few years that
will "significantly uplift our hopes."
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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