Many kids beat U.S. adults in math, reading

By Associated Press  • 


Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t, either.


Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than those in the United States in all three areas on the test.

Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food-expiration dates on grocery-store tags.





The test was developed and released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of mostly industrialized member countries. The U.S. Education Department’s Center for Education Statistics participated.


Unemployment is well above 25 percent in Spain and over 12 percent in Italy. Spain has drastically cut education spending, drawing street protests from students.



As the American economy sputters along and many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly skilled workforce is key to economic recovery.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement that the nation needs to find ways to reach more adults to upgrade their skills.


Among the other findings:



In nearly all countries, at least 10 percent of adults lacked the most basic of computer skills, such as using a mouse.


• In England, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United States, social background has a big impact on literacy skills, meaning the children of parents with low levels of education have lower reading skills.

America’s school kids have historically scored low on international assessment tests compared with other countries, which often is blamed on the diversity of the population and the high number of immigrants.




Adults can learn new skills at any age, and there are adult-geared programs around the country, Perin said.

