
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993                   TAG: 9312020127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. MATH SCORES ADD UP TO PROBLEM

American eighth-graders are being outperformed in math by 13-year-olds in other industrialized nations. But in one bright note, students in Iowa, North Dakota and Minnesota are up there among the best in the world, the Education Department said Wednesday.

The department for the first time looked at how U.S. education stacked up against education in some industrialized nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Thirteen-year-olds in Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland, the former Soviet Union, Hungary, France, Israel, Canada, Slovenia, Ireland and Scotland all demonstrated higher proficiency in math on average than eighth-graders in U.S. public schools.

Taiwanese pupils were at the top, scoring an average 285 out of a possible 500. U.S. students scored 262. Only 13-year-olds from Jordan scored lower, at 246.

There was a broad range of ability among the states. Pupils in North Dakota and Iowa scored highest, with an average rating of 283. Those in Washington, D.C., rated lowest, at 234, with Mississippi next at 246.

The score for Virginia public school pupils was 267.

Youths with a score of 250 can do numerical operations and beginning problem-solving. At 300, they can do moderately complex procedures and reasoning.

Proficiency was determined by the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress exam in the United States and the International Assessment of Educational Progress test given in 1991.

Gaylynn L. Becker, assistant director of counseling and testing for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, said several factors contributed to the performance of pupils from his state.

He credited social conditions in North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota as advantages. "Children are probably more ready to learn than in some other parts of the country," Becker said. "They don't have to worry about getting shot when they get to school or coming home from school at night."

Becker said there also are more two-parent families in North Dakota than in other states. "Not that that automatically makes a better family, but those kids tend to score higher," he said.

A high percentage of children in North Dakota come from homes where at least one parent graduated from college, Becker said. And he said teachers were required to have the equivalent of a major or minor in the subject they are teaching, which makes them well-qualified.

U.S. Education Undersecretary Marshall Smith said quality must be raised nationwide and inequalities fixed.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB