U.S. performance on international assessment – mediocre

Every three years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducts reading, math, and science tests under the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Fifteen-year-old students from over sixty nations participated in the 2009 PISA testing.

Reading
U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 500 on the combined reading literacy scale, not measurably different from the OECD average score of 493. (IES, p. iii)

Math
U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 487 on the mathematics literacy scale, which was lower than the OECD average score of 496. (IES, p. iv)

Science
On the science literacy scale, the average score of U.S. students (502) was not measurably different from the OECD average (501). (IES, p. iv)

Just to recap – Students from the United States met the international average scores on reading and science assessments. They scored lower than the international average on the math assessment.

The kicker? According to the OECD, the U.S. spends more per student than any other nation, save Luxembourg.