> Actually the bit about K-12 scoring miserably is not quite true. I think
> the upper quintile are entirely at the level of the top students in the
> world. But the great magnitude of poverty and sub-par inner-city schools
> drag the averages down.
That sounds right to me.
I'm thinking of the recent PISA scores (from beginning of December):
07education_graph-popup.jpg<http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/07/education/07education_graph/07education_graph-popup.jpg>
<http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/12/07/education/07education_graph/07education_graph-popup.jpg> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/education/07education.html?_r=2
Sure, average isn't great, but it's, well, average. And even above average in reading, though still within a standard deviation.
It's worth noting that the math score is pretty miserable.
