American Students falling behind in math?

This rich guy, Dr. James Simons, is once again commenting on the lack of math education in America. He founded "Math for America" with some other mathematicians. Basically, they pay math majors to get their masters and go teach math.

They note that America scores are a lot worse than many countries in high school math on standardized tests. I don't think that Americans are exceptional in their abilities. And I would agree that there has probably been a decrease in the overall quality of math education.

However, something that people looking at the statistics need to remember is that American students generally all attend the same school as everyone else in the neighborhood. In other countries it is common practice to divide students. In some countries, such as Bolivia, it is a question of money. Those with money can afford the best private schools. Those without have teachers, who are paid relatively little, compared to other professionals. In Germany, and other European countries, it is common to divide students into different tracks as early as 5th grade. Children are tracked into university bound, trade school bound, and laborer bound schools.

The scores submitted for these international comparisons are generally taken from the university track, so the scores from the other groups never show up in the international reports. In contrast, American public schools' scores include everyone from the future Nobel Prize winning Mathematician to the doped up dropout.