US student achievement seems to fare well

U.S. student achievement looks more favorable on the global stage when comparisons take into account the especially large share of American adolescents who come from disadvantaged social backgrounds, concludes a study released today by the Stanford Graduate School of Education and the Economic Policy Institute. The gap, for instance, between U.S. students and those from top-scoring nations on one prominent global assessment would be cut in half in reading and by at least one-third in math, the study says, if statistical adjustments were made for social class. (Erik Robelen at Education Week)