U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM NO LONGER TOP DOGFrom pre-kindergarten through graduate school,

U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM NO LONGER TOP DOG
From pre-kindergarten through graduate school, the education system in the United States faces tough competition from the rest of the world, a new study found.
The study мейд public Tuesday by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows other nations are catching up and in many cases have surpassed the United States at many levels, from pre-kindergarten enrollment to the percentage of adults with advanced degrees.
OECDs annual Education at a Glance report finds, for instance, that 41% of 3-year-olds in the U.S. are enrolled in pre-kindergarten. Among all OECD countries, the average is 72%.
For 4-year-olds in the United States, the number rises to 66% but still falls below the OECD average of 88%.
Andreas Schleicher, the OECDs deputy director for education and skills, said the gap in preschool enrollment as well as other factors isnt necessarily because things have gotten worse in the U.S.There has just been enormous progress elsewhere in the world, he said.
The report analyzes the education systems of the 34 OECD member countries, which include most industrialized nations, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Chile Israel, Japan, and most European nations, as well as non-member countries: Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
On average, OECD nations invest about 0.6% of GDP in pre-primary education. Countries such as Norway, Iceland and Finland invest about 1% of GDP in pre-K, while in the USA, its closer to 0.4%, at the lower end of the spectrum, Schleicher said.
When it comes to class sizes in K-12 education, the Unites States has larger than average classes in primary grades, but below average in middle school and high school classes. But even that upper-grade advantage, long touted by education advocates, doesnt necessarily give U.S. schools an edge, Schleicher said.