New York's eighth-graders ranked behind eighth-graders in several other countries and states on their math and science scores, according to a recent report by the US government's National Center on Education Statistics.
New York Students ranked 17 among states and countries studied, with an average math score of 529 on a scale of 0 to 1,000. But their scores were back-slapped by a handful of countries in Asia and even beat out by a number of U.S. states
Leading the list was South Korea, with an average score of 613, followed by Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong and Japan. Russia ranked 11, with an average test score of 539.
Nine American states also beat out New York, including Massachusetts, which had the highest score in the nation of 561, based on test results.
Education reform expert Chester Finn Jr., president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said the takeaway is that it's possible for an American state to do as well as other countries on standardized tests, "But unfortunately, very few American states have pulled that off."
"New York is among the states that have not, although it's not at the bottom of the barrel," he said.
Finn said an analysis by his Washington, DC, think tank concluded that New York would benefit from the national "Common Core" educational standards adopted in 2010.
