U.S. Education Rankings Are Falling Behind the Rest of the World
-How It Hurts the Economy and You

美国的教育排名正在落后于世界其他国家
——这是如何伤害经济和你的
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新闻：

The United States is not investing as much in human capital as other developed countries. As a result, its comparative advantage is falling behind. For example, U.S. students' math skills have remained stagnant for decades.

美国在人力资本上的投资没有其他发达国家多。因此，美国的比较优势正在落后。例如，美国学生的数学技能几十年来一直停滞不前。

This means they are falling behind many other countries, such as Japan, Poland, and Ireland, which have greatly improved. In fact, U.S. test scores are now below the global average.

这意味着他们落后于许多其他国家，比如日本、波兰和爱尔兰，这些国家已经有了很大的进步。事实上，美国的考试成绩现在低于全球平均水平。

Comparing Test Scores

考试成绩对比

The Program for International Student Assessment tests 15-year-old students around the world and is administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2018, when the test was last administered, the U.S. placed 11th out of 79 countries in science. It did worse in math, ranking 30th.

“国际学生评估项目”测试世界各地15岁的学生，由经济合作与发展组织管理。2018年，也就是上一次测试的时候，美国在79个国家的科学排名中位列第11位。它在数学方面表现更差，排名第30位。

The U.S. scored 478 in math, below the OECD average of 489. That's well below the scores of the top five, all of which were Asian nations: Singapore at 569, Macao at 555, Hong Kong at 551, Taiwan at 531, and Japan at 527. China was not included in this ranking, since only four provinces participated.

美国的数学成绩为478分，低于经合组织489分的平均水平。排名前五的国家都是亚洲国家（地区）：新加坡（569分）、澳门（555分）、香港（551分）、台湾（531分）和日本（527分）。中国没有被包括在这个排名中，因为它只有四个省份参与。（译注：中国大陆得分591，此处外媒没好意思提）

In science, the United States scored at 502, above the OECD average of 489. The top five highest-scoring countries were Singapore at 551, Macao at 544, Estonia at 530, Japan at 529, and Finland at 522.

在科学方面，美国的得分为502，高于经合组织489的平均水平。得分最高的五个国家（地区）是新加坡（551分）、澳门（544分）、爱沙尼亚（530分）、日本（529分）和芬兰（522分）。（译注：中国大陆得分590）

When analyzing the U.S. results over the years, it's clear that the scores have been stable over time—while not declining, there aren't any signs of improvement, either. In fact, there's been no detectable change in U.S. students' math scores since 2003 or science scores since 2006.

在分析美国这几年的成绩时，很明显，分数一直都很稳定——虽然没有下降，但也没有任何改善的迹象。事实上，自2003年以来，美国学生的数学成绩和2006年以来的科学成绩都没有明显的变化。

Economic Impact of Education

教育对经济的影响

These low scores mean that U.S. students may not be as prepared to take high-paying computer and engineering jobs, which often go to foreign workers. While Silicon Valley is America's high-tech innovation center, one reason for its success is the cultural diversity of its foreign-born software engineers.

这些低分数意味着美国学生可能没有准备好从事高薪的计算机和工程工作，而这些工作通常都是由外国工人完成的。虽然硅谷是美国的高科技创新中心，但它成功的一个原因在于拥有外国出生的软件工程师的文化多样性。
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Many companies simply outsource their tech jobs overseas. The result, however, is the same: There are fewer high-paying jobs going to American citizens because they may not be qualified.

许多公司只是把他们的技术工作岗位外包到海外。然而，结果是一样的：美国公民获得的高薪工作减少了，因为他们的能力可能不合格。

An economist from the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, Eric A. Hanushek, estimated that the U.S. economy would grow 4.5% in the next 20 years if our students’ math and science skills were as strong as the rest of the world's. However, this statement would likely come as a shock to many Americans who believe that our students' skills are already among the best in the world.

斯坦福大学胡佛研究所的经济学家埃里克·哈努谢克估计，如果美国学生的数学和科学技能与世界其他地区一样强大，那么美国经济在未来20年将增长4.5%。然而，这一声明可能会让许多美国人感到震惊，因为他们认为我们的学生的技能已经是世界上最好的了。

Perception vs. Reality

感知 VS 现实

Despite the low scores dating back decades, some Americans see no problem with the state of U.S. education. In 2008, nearly half of those who participated in an Associated Press poll said that American students’ achievement test scores were the same as or better than those of children in other industrialized nations. However, 90% of them recognized that education helps economic growth.

尽管几十年来分数一直很低，一些美国人认为美国的教育状况没有问题。2008年，在参与美联社民意调查的人中，近一半的人表示，美国学生的成绩与其他工业化国家的孩子一样好，甚至更好。然而，90%的人承认教育有助于经济增长。

The truth is that the U.S. ranks near the bottom in a survey of students’ math skills in 30 industrialized countries. Instead of knowing and confronting the facts, many Americans are in denial. In fact, the same survey showed that while one-third believed their schools were excellent, only one-sixth believed the same of any other schools.

事实是，在一项针对30个工业化国家学生数学能力的调查中，美国几乎是垫底的。许多美国人否认事实，而不是了解和面对事实。事实上，同一份调查显示，虽然有三分之一的人认为自己的学校很优秀，但只有六分之一的人认为其他学校也很优秀。

One reason for this: Many states don't invest in education. The states that are poorest have lower education scores. This cycle creates structural inequality.

其中一个原因是：许多州不投资教育。最穷的州教育分数较低。这种循环造成了结构性的不平等。
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Impact on U.S. Competitiveness

对美国竞争力的影响

This slippage in education, along with President Trump's trade policies, has hurt U.S. competitiveness.

教育水平的下滑，加上特朗普总统的贸易政策，已经损害了美国的竞争力。

The IMD World Competitiveness Center reports that the U.S. is ranked 10th in its 2020 Competitiveness Report. After ranking first in 2018, the U.S. fell to the third spot in 2019. The seven-point tumble to 10th place in 2020 represents the lowest the U.S. has ever been in the annual ranking system by far.

洛桑国际管理发展学院世界竞争力中心报告称，美国在其《2020年竞争力报告》中排名第十。美国在2018年排名第一，2019年跌至第三。到2020年，排名下降了7名，降至第10位，这是迄今为止美国在年度排名系统中最低的一次。