Chapter 6: International Comparisons of Education

This chapter offers a broad perspective on education across the nations of the world. It also provides an international context for examining the condition of education in the United States. Insights into the educational practices and outcomes of the United States are obtained by comparing them with those of other countries. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) carries out a variety of activities in order to provide statistical data for international comparisons of education.

This chapter presents data drawn from materials prepared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA); and the Institute of International Education (IIE). Basic summary data on enrollments, teachers, enrollment ratios, and finances were synthesized from information appearing in Education at a Glance, published by OECD. Even though OECD tabulations are very carefully prepared, international data users should be cautioned about the many problems of definition and reporting involved in the collection of data about the educational systems of the world (see the OECD entry in Appendix A: Guide to Sources). Estimates of the number of foreign students studying in the United States and their countries of origin were obtained from the Open Doors report, published by IIE.

Also presented in this chapter are data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), carried out under the aegis of IEA and supported by NCES. This survey was formerly known as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. TIMSS, conducted every 4 years, is an assessment of fourth- and eighth-graders in mathematics and science. In 1995, TIMSS collected data for both grade 4 and grade 8. In 1999, TIMSS collected data for grade 8 only. In 2003 and 2007, data were again collected at both grade levels. TIMSS offers comparisons of mathematics and science achievement between years for those countries that participated in more than one of the grade 4 data collection years (1995, 2003, and 2007) or more than one of the grade 8 data collection years (1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007).

This chapter includes additional information on performance scores of 15-year-olds in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science literacy from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA also measures general, or cross-curricular, competencies such as learning strategies. While this study focuses on OECD countries, data from some non-OECD countries are also provided.

Further information on survey methodologies is in Appendix A: Guide to Sources and in the publications cited in the table source notes.

Population

Among the reporting OECD countries in 2006, Mexico had the largest percentage of its population made up of young people ages 5 to 14 (21 percent), followed by Turkey (19 percent) (table 399). Countries with relatively small percentages of people in this age group included Italy, Japan, and Spain (all at 9 percent) and the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, and Portugal (all at 10 percent). In the United States, the proportion of 5- to 14-year-olds was 14 percent, which was higher than in most of the other OECD countries.

Enrollments

In 2007, about 1.4 billion students were enrolled in schools around the world (table 397). Of these students, 694 million were in elementary-level programs, 519 million were in secondary programs, and 151 million were in postsecondary programs. From 2000 to 2007, enrollment changes varied from region to region. Changes in elementary enrollment ranged from increases of 37 percent in Africa, 2 percent in Asia, and 1 percent in Oceania to decreases of 11 percent in Europe, 2 percent in Central and South America, and 2 percent in Northern America (defined in UNESCO tabulations as including the United States, Canada, Greenland, Bermuda, St. Pierre, and Miquelon) (table F, table 397, and figure 26). Over the same period, enrollments generally increased at the secondary level. Secondary enrollment increased by 38 percent in Africa, 22 percent in Asia, 8 percent in Northern America, 7 percent in Central and South America, and 2 percent in Oceania, but decreased by 13 percent in Europe.

Table F. Population and enrollment at different levels in major areas of the world: 2000 and 2007

At the postsecondary level, enrollments increased in all major areas of the world from 2000 to 2007 (table F, table 397, and figure 26). Postsecondary enrollment rose by 76 percent in Asia, 57 percent in Central and South America, 41 percent in Africa, 33 percent in Northern America, 32 percent in Europe, and 30 percent in Oceania. These increases are due to both growth in the percentages of people attending postsecondary institutions and population increases in most regions.

In 2006, the reporting OECD countries with the highest proportions of 22- to 25-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education were Finland (40 percent), followed by Denmark (34 percent), the Republic of Korea (33 percent), Poland and Sweden (both at 31 percent), and Norway (30 percent) (table 400). The United States' proportion of enrolled 22- to 25-year-olds was 22 percent. Also in 2006, the reporting OECD countries with the highest proportions of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education were Greece and the Republic of Korea (at 68 and 67 percent, respectively), followed by the United States (46 percent) and Flemish Belgium (43 percent). Postsecondary enrollment varied among countries due partially to differences in how postsecondary education is defined and the age at which postsecondary education begins. For example, programs classified as postsecondary education in some countries may be classified as long-duration secondary education in other countries.

In 2007–08, there were about 624,000 foreign students studying at U.S. colleges and universities (table 418). Sixty-one percent of these students were from Asian countries. Between 2000 and 2008, the proportion of students at U.S. colleges who were nonresident aliens fluctuated between 3.3 and 3.6 percent (table 226).

Achievement

On the 2007 TIMSS mathematics assessment, U.S. fourth-graders' average score (529) was higher than the average mathematics scores of fourth-graders in 23 of the 35 other participating educational systems, lower than the scores in 8 educational systems, and not measurably different from the scores in the remaining 4 educational systems (table 405). (Average scale scores from the TIMSS assessment are based on a range of possible scores from 0 to 1,000. Most participating educational systems represent countries; however, some represent subnational entities with separate educational systems, such as Hong Kong SAR.¹) The educational systems that outperformed the United States in fourth-grade mathematics—namely, Chinese Taipei, England, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the Russian Federation, and Singapore—all were located in Asia or Europe. In 2007, U.S. eighth-graders' average mathematics score (508) was higher than the average scores of eighth-graders in 37 of the 47 other participating educational systems, lower than the scores in 5 educational systems, and not measurably different from the scores in the remaining 5 educational systems (table 406). All of the educational systems that outperformed the United States in eighth-grade mathematics were in Asia (Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore).

On the 2007 TIMSS science assessment, U.S. fourth-graders' average score (539) was higher than the average science scores of fourth-graders in 25 of the 35 other participating educational systems, lower than the scores in 4 educational systems (all of them located in Asia), and not measurably different from the scores in the remaining 6 educational systems (table 410). The educational systems that outperformed the United States in fourth-grade science were Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and Singapore. In 2007, U.S. eighth-graders' average science score (520) was higher than the average scores of eighth-graders in 35 of the 47 other educational systems, lower than the scores in 9 educational systems (all located in Asia or Europe), and not measurably different from the scores in the remaining 3 educational systems (table 411).The educational systems that outperformed the United States in eighth-grade science were in Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, England, Hungary, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, and Singapore).

On the 2006 PISA, the average score of U.S. 15-year-olds in mathematics literacy was 474, which was lower than the OECD average of 498 (table 402). (Possible scores on PISA assessments range from 0 to 1,000.) The average mathematics literacy score in the United States was lower than the average score in 23 of the other 29 OECD countries for which comparable PISA results were reported, higher than the average score in 4 of the other OECD countries, and not measurably different from the average score in 2 of the OECD countries. Comparable mathematics literacy results were also reported for 27 non-OECD jurisdictions, 8 of which had higher average scores than the United States. In science literacy, the average score of 15-year-olds in the United States was lower than the average score in 16 of the other 29 OECD countries, higher than the average score in 5 of the other OECD countries, and not measurably different from the average score in 8 of the OECD countries. In 6 of the 27 non-OECD jurisdictions, the science literacy scores of 15-year-olds were higher than the average score in the United States.

Degrees

In OECD countries, ratios of bachelor's degrees conferred per 100 people at the typical age of graduation in 2006 ranged from 15 in Turkey, 18 in Mexico, and 19 in Flemish Belgium to 60 in Australia and 63 in Iceland (table 413 and figure 27). The ratio for the United States was 36 degrees per 100 people. In 2006, women had higher bachelor's degree ratios than men in 27 of the 29 OECD countries reporting data.

The percentages of undergraduate degrees awarded in mathematics and science fields—including natural sciences, mathematics and computer science, and engineering—varied across the 26 reporting OECD countries in 2006 (table 414). Three of the reporting OECD countries awarded at least 29 percent of their undergraduate degrees in mathematics and science fields: the Republic of Korea (36 percent) and Austria and Finland (29 percent each). Four of the countries awarded 15 percent or less of their undergraduate degrees in mathematics and science fields: Norway (13 percent), Hungary (14 percent), and Iceland and the Netherlands (15 percent each). In 2006, the United States awarded 16 percent of its undergraduate degrees in mathematics and science fields, a lower percentage than most other reporting countries. The percentages of graduate degrees awarded in mathematics and science fields also ranged widely across countries in 2006 (table 415). Eight of the reporting OECD countries awarded at least 30 percent of their graduate degrees in mathematics and science fields: Austria (43 percent), the Republic of Korea (42 percent), Portugal (36 percent), Finland and the Slovak Republic (34 percent each), Germany and Switzerland (31 percent each), and Sweden (30 percent). Seven OECD countries awarded 15 percent or less of their graduate degrees in mathematics and science fields: Hungary (6 percent); Poland (10 percent); the United States (13 percent); Mexico (14 percent); and Iceland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand (15 percent each).

Finances

In 2006, per student expenditures at the elementary level of education were at least $8,500 in seven OECD countries (table 416). Specifically, Luxembourg spent $13,700 per student at the elementary education level; the United States spent $9,700; Norway spent $9,500; Iceland spent $9,300; Denmark and Switzerland each spent $8,800; and Austria spent $8,500. At the secondary level, five countries had expenditures of over $10,000 per student: Luxembourg ($18,100); Switzerland ($13,300); Norway ($11,400); the United States ($10,800); and Austria ($10,600). At the higher education level, the following nine countries had expenditures of at least $15,000 per student in 2006: the United States ($25,100); Switzerland ($22,200); Sweden ($17,000); Norway ($16,200); Denmark and the United Kingdom ($15,400 each); the Netherlands ($15,200); Austria ($15,100); and Australia ($15,000). These expenditures were adjusted to U.S. dollars using the purchasing-power-parity (PPP) index. This index is considered more stable and comparable than indexes using currency exchange rates.

A comparison of public direct expenditures on education as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in reporting OECD countries shows that national investment in education in 2006 ranged from 2.7 percent in Turkey, 3.3 percent in Japan, and 3.6 percent in the Slovak Republic to 6.2 percent in Sweden, 6.7 percent in Denmark, and 7.2 percent in Iceland (table 417 and figure 28). Among reporting OECD countries, the average public investment in education in 2006 was 4.9 percent of GDP. In the United States, the public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was 5.0 percent.

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