2

The number of states — Massachusetts and South Carolina — whose eighth-grade math standards are equivalent to those of the best-performing nations in math — South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong — according to the American Institutes for Research in its latest report.

C

The rating for the fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math curricula in most states as compared to TIMSS and PIRLS, the international tests of basic math and reading proficiency.

Missouri

Just one of two states (Massachusetts is the other) whose fourth-grade reading standards would be considered world-class.

Whenever someone tries telling you that the nation’s education crisis is only limited to urban dropout factories, think about these numbers and tell them that they may need to rethink their vision of what educational failure is throughout the nation.