A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that 41 percent of U.S. three-year-olds are enrolled in preschool. The global average, however, is 71 percent, placing the U.S. significantly behind.

Not only did the report reveal the U.S. to be behind in preschool enrollment for both three and four-year-olds, it also revealed that the U.S. is behind in primary school class size and providing teachers opportunities to “collaborate professionally and observe one another at work,” said USANews.com.

Certainly, taking into account the 34 OECD countries studied, the U.S. underperformed compared to most.

But surprisingly- though contrary to popular belief- the U.S. does not lead the pack in standardized testing.

"And as Congress debates overhauling a federal law that could help change the K-12 testing and accountability system, the new OECD statistics present an unexpected finding: globally speaking, the United States doesn't necessarily give more tests to its students, dispelling what Schleicher called a "popular belief" that the U.S. is "the country with a lot of heavy testing,” the article said.

And while the U.S. used to once lead in adults who held college degrees, it is now only leading the middle of the pack as countries continue to make significant improvements

"On the other end of the system, the United States, which once ranked second worldwide behind Israel in the percentage of adults with a college degree of some sort, now sits just above the OECD average,” the article said.

Read the full story.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

11/25/2015