A few years ago, I was writing a story for Dallas Child magazine on overachieving kids.  During my interviews, an administrator at Highland Park ISD commented that teaching kids to think analytically was crucial because many of the jobs those elementary and middle schoolers would have during their lifetime had not yet been invented.  I've been chewing on that for years.  My kids will have a job that I cannot even fathom.  OK, so I didn't really understand Twitter, but that's completely besides the point.  I get Twitter now, more or less.  But, my kids won't work on the next Twitter.  My kids will work on some G5 version of something not yet invented.  So, that makes the education - and style of education - my children get critical.  Thinking logically, taking small, seemingly disparate bits of information and being able to see patterns, connections is essential.  This leads me to ask, how does the US rank globally in our education?

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams are to administered 15 year-olds in 57 countries every three years.  The areas tested are math, science, reading literacy and problem-solving skills. In 2000, the test focused on reading; the 2003 examined  math, and the 2006 looked at science.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the United States's 2006 PISA results were 29th out of 57 countries, behind Estonia, Canada, the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein. 

Here’s how several countries scored:

Finland: 563
Hong Kong-China: 542
Canada: 534
Estonia: 532
Croatia: 493
United States: 489
Russia: 479
Turkey: 424
Mexico: 410
Brazil: 390
Krgystan: 322
Average score: 500


Source: OCED PISA 2006