“The United States’ failure to educate
its students leaves them unprepared to
compete and threatens the country’s ability
to thrive in a global economy.” Such was
the dire warning recently issued by a task
force sponsored by the Council on Foreign
Relations. Chaired by former New York City
schools chancellor Joel I. Klein and former
U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, the
task force said that the country “will not be
able to keep pace—much less lead—globally
unless it moves to fix the problems it has
allowed to fester for too long.”i
The report’s views are well supported
by the available evidence. In a 2010 report,
only 6 percent of U.S. students were found
to be performing at the advanced level in
mathematics, a percentage lower than those attained by 30 other countries.ii

Nor is the problem limited to top-performing students. Only 32 percent of 8thgraders
in the United States are proficient in mathematics, placing the United
States 32nd when ranked among the participating international jurisdictions.iii
Although these facts are discouraging, the United States has made substantial
additional financial commitments to K–12 education and introduced a variety
of school reforms. Have these policies begun to help the United States close the
international gap?