Letter to the Editor: Poverty skews test results U.S. kids excel in science

I tire of hearing some people say that our schools and universities are failing and not turning out enough science-savvy students.

I guess if some pundits, politicians, and corporate leaders belt it out often enough and loud enough, people will believe it. I hope not.

There is good evidence that this claim of failure is false: there is no evidence that American science education is failing, and no evidence that we face a shortage of qualified science and math professionals.

American students are doing well in science and math, and in other subjects as well. Our unspectacular scores in international tests are because we have so many students living in poverty, 23%, the second-highest among all industrialized nations. When researchers control for poverty, American international test scores are at the top of the world. In fact, middle class American students in well-funded schools outscore students in nearly all other countries on international tests. Poverty means poor nutrition, poor health care and little access to books: All of these have powerful impacts on school performance.

The U.S. produces more top science students than other countries. On the 2006 PISA math and science tests, 60,000 American students scored in the top category, compared to 34,000 Japanese students. Also, American students are taking more math and science than the economy needs: in 2007, 30% of college-bound high school seniors had taken calculus, but only 5% of the new openings require a math/science background.

According to Rutgers Professor Hal Sazlman, there is no shortage of science and technology graduates. In fact, Salzman has concluded that there are two to three qualified graduates for each science/tech opening. Studies have also shown the U.S. is producing more Ph.D.s in science than the market can absorb.

There is good evidence that, contrary to popular opinion, we are turning out more than enough “science-savvy graduates.”

Duane Pitts

Odessa