A new international study shows that in key work-related skills, U.S. adults don鈥檛 stack up well against those in other countries.
Released today, the , or PIAAC, examines 16- to 65-year-olds for a set of skills deemed to be important for success in the working world, and finds U.S. adults鈥� literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills were below international averages. The study also showed deep skills disparities within the United States, corresponding to factors such as income, education, and health.
In a press release, Jack Buckley, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which released the study, said that U.S. adults are 鈥渄ecidedly weaker in numeracy and problem-solving skills than in literacy,鈥� and that scores for all three areas are 鈥渇ar behind the scores of top performers like Japan or Finland.鈥�
Only 12 percent of U.S. adults scored at the highest level of proficiency in literacy, compared with 22 percent in Finland and 23 percent in Japan.
One age group stood out in the United States for a strong comparative performance in literacy, though: older Americans. Twelve percent of Americans ages 55 to 65 scored at the highest proficiency level, while internationally only 5 percent of adults in that age group did the same. In every other age group, the U.S. approximated or lagged behind the international average.
In numeracy, the United States outscored only two countries of the 23 in the study, Italy and Spain. Only 9 percent of adults scored at the highest proficiency level. And only 6 percent of U.S. adults scored at the highest proficiency level on the PIAAC鈥檚 scale for 鈥減roblem-solving in technology-rich environments.鈥�
The full report was scheduled to be available at , but that website is still not working because of the federal government shutdown. The study is available through .
The results drew the attention of the U.S. Department of Education, where Secretary Arne Duncan released a statement saying that the findings 鈥渟hould concern us all.鈥�
鈥淭hey show our education system hasn鈥檛 done enough to help Americans compete鈥攐r position our country to lead鈥攊n a global economy that demands increasingly higher skills,鈥� he said.
The U.S. education system must redouble its efforts to close skills gaps that begin developing as early as preschool, Duncan said. It must also reach adults with the weakest skills and 鈥渘ot be content with 鈥榠slands of excellence.鈥� Otherwise, no matter how hard they work, these adults will be stuck, unable to support their families and contribute fully to our country.鈥�