Families’ interest in their kids’ education is falling in many high-income countries as school systems struggle with plunging test scores. That's according to newly released results from a standardized test taken by 15-year-olds around the world. Over 760,000 teenagers in dozens of countries took the Programme for International Student Assessment last year. Results were released Tuesday. Average scores in math, reading and science are all at their lowest point ever among highly developed economies. That includes continued declines in reading and math scores in the United States. China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea scored the highest marks on the test.
No. 2 pencils and a mock SAT test form are arranged for a photo in Phoenix, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
ACT test scores made public in a report Wednesday reveal a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework. Overall, the average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of 36. This year was the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20, and it was the lowest average in more than 30 years. The report also shows 42% of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 met none of the ACT's subject benchmarks, which are indicators of how well students are expected to perform in college courses. The results offer a lens into systemic inequities in education, in place well before the pandemic shuttered schools and colleges waived testing requirements.
