Global Test Scores Hit Record Low as Family Support for Education Declines

Average scores in math, reading and science among the world's most developed economies have fallen to their lowest point in the history of the Programme for International Student Assessment, according to results released Tuesday. The decline spans dozens of countries and coincides with a measurable drop in the support families provide for their children's education.

More than 760,000 fifteen-year-olds took the standardized test last year. The results show that China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea earned the highest marks, while Estonia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand also performed well. In the United States, reading and math scores slid to their lowest level since the test was first administered in the early 2000s. U.S. math scores equaled the average among OECD countries that took the test, and the country ranked in the top 15 for science, reading and computational problem-solving, a new category. Those rankings, however, benefited from steeper declines elsewhere.

The reasons behind the widespread drop may lie in an accompanying survey of students. Compared with 2022 results, almost every country saw a decline in families' support for their children's education, especially for boys. The survey measured how often parents talk to their children about schoolwork or take an interest in their learning.

«Parents see themselves more as a client of the school, not as someone who takes personal interest,» said Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which runs the PISA test.

The gap between engaged and disengaged families is substantial. Students who said a family member asks them at least weekly what they did in school that day scored around 35 points higher on the PISA science test — equivalent to more than a year and a half of learning — compared with students whose families take less interest. That figure includes adjustments for socioeconomic differences.

Digital distraction is another factor. More than a quarter of students in high-income countries said their classmates were distracted by digital devices in most or every science class. In countries with strong policies controlling cellphone use in schools, distraction rates were lower. Schleicher said there is undoubtedly a strong association between students using digital devices for leisure and lower test scores, though the picture is more nuanced when technology is used for learning. Countries where high schoolers reported using digital devices for around two to three hours per day in school saw higher test scores, but scores fell once tech use climbed beyond that threshold.

Asian nations appear to have found a way to use technology in a manner that benefits students. Fewer than 10% of tested students in Japan, Korea and mainland China complained of digital distraction in the classroom. Only four provinces in China participated in testing, plus Hong Kong and Macao. At the same time, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the Chinese provinces ranked among the top 10 regions for math, science and reading. Almost 100% of children in the Chinese provinces scored at or above baseline for math and reading, compared with only 65% in math and 74% in reading in the United States.

Experts worry that China's educational dominance over the United States carries serious political implications. «To win a technological race, you need the people with the science and the technology and the reading capabilities,» said Tracey Burns, chief of global strategy and research at the National Center for Education and the Economy, a group that researches high-performing education systems.

Higher use of artificial intelligence was generally associated with lower test scores. Students who said they never use chatbots performed better than those who did. Almost half of students in developed economies say they use AI chatbots to help them learn at least weekly. Schleicher pointed to China, Japan, Singapore and Estonia as countries that have succeeded in using AI to support learning without overusing it. He noted that in Asia, teachers are more empowered to take the lead in designing AI systems for the classroom.

«In the United States, teachers largely implement lessons. In Asia, teachers have a very strong role,» he said. He recalled seeing a classroom in China where elementary schoolers practiced calligraphy with ink and brushes. Teachers scanned their work and used AI to analyze how their handwriting could improve. «The classroom, if you made a photograph, would have looked like the 1950's — students doing calligraphy with ink,» Schleicher said. «But everything was powered by AI.»

Researchers cautioned that the results must be interpreted carefully because the United States did not meet standards for having a sufficiently large sample of schools and students participating in the test.

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Connor Quincy

Technology Reporter

Connor Quincy covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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