Team USA

Guest Correspondence

The 2018 Winter Olympics is scheduled to begin this week with more than 90 countries sending its athletes to compete against the world’s best. It will be a time when we, as Americans, unify as a country while enthusiastically cheering our nation’s athletes who have spent countless hours and years of sacrifice for this pinnacle experience. It is no secret the United States, more than any other country, is a dominant Olympic contender as evidenced by our record-setting medals. Listening to the national anthem play repeatedly as American athletes don gold medals serves as a source of national pride affirming our country’s strength.

With the Olympics upon us, this may serve as an opportune yet sobering time to compare the United States’ performance in education. Admittedly, rankings never reveal the whole story but they can help us watch for trends and identify areas for us to focus. One of the most referenced international ranking reports is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which every three years measures reading ability, math and science literacy in countries around the world.

The most recent report, published in 2015, shows the United States above the OECD average in reading and science and below the average in math. According to OECD PISA 2015, a score difference of 30 points is the equivalent of one year of formal schooling. Singapore tops all three performance areas with a 535 reading score compared to a 497 U.S. score; science is a 556 to 496 comparison and Singapore’s math score tops 564 compared to the U.S. at 470. Put another way, the United States ranks 24th in reading, 25th in science, and 40th in math when compared to the more than 70 countries that participate in this assessment. If PISA garnered as much attention as the Olympics, this would prompt a national outcry. Yet, hope is not lost.

The Sarasota community is doing much to improve student achievement by recognizing the responsibility is shared between all of us and is not just for our schools and teachers to bear. It has been inspiring to witness the resounding support students and families receive from the multitude of invested community partners engaged in innovative pilot programs to comprehensive literacy initiatives and everything in between. Our community has a proclivity to invest in a better tomorrow by making sound investments in schools today.

If you’ve not yet joined the conversation and want to share your wisdom and talents, we welcome the community conversation. Greater alignment still is needed and, together, we can improve the performance of all Team USA students. I can hear the national anthem now…

Jennifer Vigne is president of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

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