National Center for Education Statistics
In mathematics and science, for example, U.S. high school seniors have scored well below the international average, with students from the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, France, Canada, Israel, Slovenia, Germany, Russia, and the Czech Republic regularly outperforming Americans.209 The poor U.S. performance in high school math and science may jeopardize America’s future economic and technological competitiveness. More worrisome, the percentage of American students who take college degrees in the hard sciences, mathematics, and engineering is declining. 210 209 , “The Condition of Education 1999 (NCES1999-022),” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1999), p. 6.
210 Ibid., p. 122
