What You Need to Know About the International Test Scores

by Diane Ravitch

The news reports say that the test scores of American students on the latest PISA test are "stagnant," "lagging," "flat," etc.

The U.S. Department of Education would have us believe -- yet again -- that we are in an unprecedented crisis and that we must double down on the test-and-punish strategies of the past dozen years.

The myth persists that once our nation led the world on international tests, but we have fallen from that exalted position in recent years.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.