GETTING BACK TO AVERAGE: American Fifteen-Year-Olds Rank 14th in Reading, 17th in Science, and 25th in Mathematics, According to Latest PISA Results: Released December 7, the results of the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that American fifteen-year-olds ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in mathematics among the thirty-four countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).  These results, which are outlined in Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for the United States, place the United States near the OECD average in reading and science but below the OECD average in mathematics.

COMING DECEMBER 17: One-on-One Opportunity to Ask Questions of the OECD’s Andreas Schleicher: On December 17, Andreas Schleicher will join Alliance President Bob Wise for a one-on-one Q&A on the PISA results and lessons learned from the world’s highest performers. This special webinar will largely be driven by questions submitted by webinar participants. To register for the webinar or ask a question, go to http://www.newmediamill.com/webcasts/all4ed/registerdec172010/.

ALSO ON THE ALLIANCE WEBSITE: Series of Webinars Offer Additional Insight on PISA Results: On December 7, the Alliance for Excellent Education, Asia Society, Committee for Economic Development, Council of Chief State School Officers, and National Governors Association Center for Best Practices cohosted a live webcast featuring Andreas Schleicher, head of indicators and analysis division for OECD’s Directorate of Education.

A FIRST LOOK: New Report Finds Many Students Lack Skills Outlined in Common Core State Standards: Only about one-third of the nation’s eleventh-grade students are performing at the academic levels described as college and career ready in the common core state standards, according to a new report by ACT. The report, A First Look at the Common Core and College and Career Readiness, finds that only 38 percent of eleventh graders it studied met the benchmark in reading and only 34 percent hit the mark in the foundations of mathematics. The percentages are much lower for students of color.

THE FISCAL SURVEY OF STATES: Despite Small Increases in State Revenues, Most States Still Facing Significant Budget Gaps, Report Finds: After going through two of the most challenging years since the Great Depression, state budgets should see a slight improvement in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 as revenues are expected to grow slightly, according to a new report from the National Governors Association (NGA) and National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). However, the report, The Fiscal Survey of States, warns that most states will still face significant budget gaps. Further complicating matters, the federal money provided to plug state budget gaps through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is unlikely to continue. According to the report, the wind down of these flexible funds in FY 2012 will result in a cliff of more than $65 billion.

THE NATION’S REPORT CARD: Too Many High School Seniors Unprepared for College-Level Math and Reading: More than 60 percent of the nation’s high school seniors fail to read at a proficient level, according to the results from the 2009 grade twelve reading assessment from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. Of those students, 26 percent fail to read at even a basic level. In math, nearly 75 percent of twelfth graders fail to perform at proficient level; 36 percent of those students perform below the basic level.

DEGREES OF SEPARATION: New Report Finds Better-Educated Individuals—and Cities—Were Less Impacted by the Great Recession: When the full impact of an economic downturn is measured, individuals with higher levels of education have consistently fared better during economic recessions, including the “Great Recession” that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution. However, the report, Degrees of Separation: Education, Employment, and the Great Recession in Metropolitan America, also finds that the relationship between education and changes in employment has not been uniform across the country.

WINNING BY DEGREES: New Report Examines How to Improve College Degree Attainment Rates at U.S. Higher Education Institutions: To reach the goal of producing one million more college graduates a year without increasing public funding, U.S. higher education institutions would need to improve their degree completion productivity by an average of 23 percent according to a new report from McKinsey & Company. The report, Winning by Degrees: The Strategies of Highly Productive Higher-Education Institutions, provides an in-depth look at eight two- and four-year colleges and universities that have successfully raised the rate at which students complete their degrees and improved cost efficiencies.

TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL ATTRITION STUDY: Attrition Rate in Texas Falls Below 30 Percent for the First Time in Twenty-Five-Year History of Study : Approximately three of every ten students (29 percent) from Texas’s 2006–07 freshman class left school prior to graduating with a high school diploma, according to a new report from the Intercultural Development Research Association (IRDA). That’s a decline of 11 percentage points over the last ten years and the first time in the twenty-five-year history of the IRDA report that the attrition rate has fallen below 30 percent. However, the report, Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2009–10, also finds that the gaps in the attrition rates of white students and Hispanic and black students are “dramatically” higher than when the study began in the 1985–86 school year.