Most Nations Seen Falling Short of NAEP ‘Proficiency’

Outside of a handful of Asian nations, the typical 8th grader in many foreign countries would not meet “proficient” levels on U.S. tests of mathematics and science, a new reanalysis of international achievement shows.

Then again, the study also shows, neither do most American students.

The study, which was posted April 24 on the Web site of the American Institutes for Research, a Washington-based research organization, offers fodder for national debates over whether the United States has set its achievement targets too high. The new analysis, the second in a year to draw nearly the same conclusions from reinterpreted international data, comes from the AIR’s chief...