By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. students have shown little progress in the subjects of math and science, as the gap widens between the United States and the top performing nations, according to the results of a global study.

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Although the U.S. remains among the top dozen countries in all subjects tested, American students are trailing behind their counterparts in several East Asian and European countries, according to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study for 2011. 

Fourth graders in 57 countries or regions took the math and science tests, while eighth-graders in 56 countries or regions took the tests. Fifty-three countries or regions also administered reading tests.

The study revealed only 7 percent of U.S. students were deemed advanced in eighth-grade math, while nearly half of all students tested in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan reached the advanced level.  The United States also trailed South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and Russia in science in both grade levels.

Overall, the United States ranked 11th in fourth-grade math, 9th in eighth-grade math, 7th in fourth-grade science and 10th in eighth-grade science.

Even where U.S. student scores have improved, many other nations have improved much faster, leaving American students far behind many of their peers, reports the Associated Press.

“When you start looking at our older students, we see less improvement over time,” said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics.

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The underwhelming results have raised concerns about America’s future global competitiveness. Education Secretary Arne Duncan described the results as “sober cautionary notes.”

“If we as a nation don’t turn that around, those nations will soon be out-competing us in a knowledge-based, global economy,” Duncan said.

The studies further prove the need for education reform in the United States. Each student should be receiving a high-quality education and school districts should be held accountable for student performance.

Clearly the status quo isn’t working, so how will the teachers unions explain their continued resistance to meaningful reforms to parents and taxpayers?