Conventional wisdom says American schools are drifting ever farther behind schools in other developed countries. National politicians have fixated on this, using it to push for more high-stakes tests and greater accountability in all school districts. While these international comparisons make for good sound bites, the facts tell a different story. The U.S. always has scored in the middle of the international rankings. There has been no major American slide. In this seminar we’ll explore where the U.S. fits in historically, the differences between education in the U.S. and in top-scoring countries and dive into the politics of these facile international comparisons. We’ll also look more broadly at the use and misuse of standardized test results. Guest: Tom Loveless is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. Loveless is an expert on student achievement, education policy and reform in K-12 schools.

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