The National Assessment of Educational Progress for the 2022-2023 school year reports a 4 point decline in 13-year-old students’ reading abilities and a 9 point drop in math scores, the largest decline seen in half a century.

Fact of the Week: NAEP Reports a 4 Point Decline in 13-Year-Old Students’ Reading Abilities and a 9 Point Drop in Math Scores

Fact of the Week: NAEP Reports a 4 Point Decline in 13-Year-Old Students' Reading Abilities and a 9 Point Drop in Math Scores

Chinese students averaged 164.7, a score surpassed by only about 4 percent of U.S. test-takers.

Fact of the Week: Only About 4 Percent of US GRE Takers Exceed the Average Quantitative Reasoning Score Earned by Examinees in China

Ensuring that students are not only capable of using technology, but also of integrating technology into their work is key to providing students with the skills they will need in the modern economy. In 2018, over 46,000 8th graders from 12 developed and developing countries participated in a study of computer and information literacy.

Fact of the Week: Ninety Percent of 8th Graders in the United States Were Judged to be Proficient in a Test of Computer and Information Literacy, Compared to an International Average of 82 Percent

Since 2015, the number of Chinese students enrolling in U.S. PhD programs has decreased by about 3.7 percent, while the probability a Chinese student will enroll in a PhD program in another English-speaking country, such as the UK, Australia, or Canada, has increased by 2.1 percent.

Fact of the Week: Tensions Have Led to a 3.7 Percent Decline in the Probability of Chinese Students Enrolling in a US PhD Program

When it comes to a nation’s innovation and global competitiveness, what truly matters is how the top students perform, since they will play a disproportionate role in shaping the nation’s technological and economic edge. Policymakers should expand K-12 gifted and talented programs and provide high school students with more advanced and honors classes.

Forget the Average—It’s the Top Students Who Drive National Innovation Progress

Forget the Average—It's the Top Students Who Drive National Innovation Progress

This blog post reviews findings of a recent academic study on the low numbers of women in advanced mathematics programs, citing a need “to make math cool again” to spur U.S. competitiveness, because now doing mathematics for fun is “deemed uncool within the social context of USA middle and high schools…and can lead to social ostracism.”

Academics Say Make Math Cool to Promote U.S. Competitiveness

Migrants to the U.S. are more likely to choose academic careers, and among those who choose academic careers, migrants to the U.S. are more productive than stayers.

Fact of the Week: Skilled Migrants to the U.S. Are Up To Six Times More Productive in Scientific Research Than Those Who Stay Home

Taking more science classes in secondary school increases the student’s probability of enrolling in a university STEM program by 1.5 percentage points, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Innovation Fact of the Week: Students Are More Likely to Pursue STEM Degrees in College If They Are Exposed to More Science Subjects During High School

Teaching students to combine basic ideas to solve novel, difficult problems is imperative to lay a foundation for STEM pursuits. 

Fact of the Week: Between 2019 and 2023, the Average Math Scores of US Eighth Graders Declined by 27 Points

Related

Fact of the Week: NAEP Reports a 4 Point Decline in 13-Year-Old Students’ Reading Abilities and a 9 Point Drop in Math Scores

Fact of the Week: Only About 4 Percent of US GRE Takers Exceed the Average Quantitative Reasoning Score Earned by Examinees in China

Fact of the Week: Ninety Percent of 8th Graders in the United States Were Judged to be Proficient in a Test of Computer and Information Literacy, Compared to an International Average of 82 Percent