In global ranking of students, N.J. and Pa. fare better than nation

When math and reading test results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released late last year, they led to much hand-wringing about the United States' performance.

The test was given in 2009 to 15-year-olds in 60 countries, including Canada and many of the European, South American, and Asian nations with which the United States competes economically. Students in a few Chinese cities also took the exam.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan hit a grim note in his remarks after the results were released.

"The hard truth is that other high-performing nations have passed us by during the last two decades," he said. "Americans need to wake up to this educational reality - instead of napping at the wheel while emerging competitors prepare their students for economic leadership. . . . The mediocre performance of America's students is a problem we cannot afford to accept and cannot afford to ignore."

A recently released analysis of the results by a group of Harvard researchers presents a more detailed picture that, although not contradicting Duncan's conclusions, shows that students in some states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, performed significantly better on the test than U.S. students as a whole.

The Harvard researchers compared the PISA scores with those of U.S. students on an American test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called "the Nation's Report Card." That test was given to a comparable cohort of students, allowing the Harvard group to analyze student performance by state.

On the American test, the researchers said, 32 percent of American students scored at the proficient-or-above level in math. That score, when compared with the PISA test scores, ranked American students 32d internationally; they were "significantly" outperformed by students in 22 countries or cities. (A "significant" difference in scores means the gap was great enough to be outside the statistical margin of error calculated for the results.)

Many countries, including South Korea, Finland, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands, had a majority or near-majority of students who scored at the equivalent of the proficient level; less than a third of Americans reached that level.

For Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the results were somewhat more encouraging. New Jersey, with 40.4 percent of its students scoring proficient on the American NAEP test, ranked fifth among the states and was significantly outperformed by 14 foreign cities or countries, the Harvard study found.

Pennsylvania ranked eighth among U.S. states on the NAEP and was significantly outperformed by 16 countries on the PISA.

In reading, the results were better, both for the United States as a whole and for New Jersey and Pennsylvania students. The U.S. proficiency rate in reading, at 31 percent, compares reasonably well to those of most European countries, the study said.

Americans took 17th place among the PISA-tested nations; the top 10 countries outperformed the United States by a statistically significant amount.

New Jersey, with 39 percent of its students proficient on the NAEP, ranked third among American states and was significantly outperformed by five countries or cities. Pennsylvania scored 10th among U.S. states, with 36.4 percent proficient. It was significantly outperformed by eight countries or cities internationally.

Those countries included South Korea, where 47 percent of students scored at or better than the U.S. proficient mark in reading, Finland (46 percent), and Singapore and New Zealand (42 percent). Japan and Canada scored at 41 percent, Australia came in at 38 percent, and Belgium had 37 percent proficient or above.

As a gauge of how well the best American students stacked up against those around the world, the Harvard group compared the NAEP scores for students with at least one parent who completed college with the PISA scores.

In math, they found, only 44 percent nationwide in that group scored proficient or above; in reading, 42 percent met that mark. That put American students with at least one parent who completed college behind 13 countries or foreign cities in math and behind four in reading.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania had just over half of students in the parent-completing-college group proficient or above in math; New Jersey ranked fifth and Pennsylvania ranked seventh nationally. In reading, just under a majority in each state was proficient; New Jersey scored third in the nation and Pennsylvania was fifth.