Glazer, Nathan. "Underachieving in America: Researchers document international gaps, a journalist seeks the cause." Review of Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the American School by Eric A. Hanushek, Paul E. Peterson, and Ludger Woessmann, Education Next, Spring 2014.

Excerpt: Endangering Prosperity, with three distinguished authors and an eminent introducer, is devoted to one major point: the United States is truly falling behind not only the East Asian countries that for some time have scored best in international comparisons of educational achievement, but also a good part of the developed world, including its neighbor, Canada. The book eschews the difficult effort of determining just why the United States, undoubtedly a leader in educational attainment and possibly educational achievement 40 or 50 years ago, now trails other nations in both. Nor does it discuss what specific measures might enable us to catch up. Rather, through international comparative analysis, the volume demonstrates that educational achievement, particularly in mathematics and science, is closely related to and probably a prime mover in economic advancement, leading to the conclusion that if we do not improve our educational achievement, our economic predominance is also threatened.

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