It’s very common to hear references to US schools performing poorly when compared to other countries, but they don’t seem to take into account the fact that different countries educate different segments of their populations differently than we do. In many countries, lower classes and lower performing students do not make it into secondary education. If they remain in the education system at all, they are placed on a vocational track rather than academic. A sample of schools in those cultures would include a disproportionately high number capable students compared to the general population. In the US, however, (right or wrong) we attempt to educate all children equally, and I would guess that a sample from American schools is more likely to be representative of the total population, bringing the average scores down.

So to compare education between countries, it would be necessary to survey, not students, but the general adult population. I have always assumed that the US would fare much better in that case. The data you present seem to bear that out.

Great points you raise here. I dont agree with everything you have written but overall nice writing style.

Not that, for a moment, I think that the US has a low “score” there because so many people in the US know what the Big Bang really means, but, still…