The other night I caught an interview of Madeleine Sackler, a young documentary film maker. Her film, The Lottery, chronicles four families in Harlem and their pursuit of a great education for their young children.

Whether you agree with Ms. Sackler or not, it is important that we take time to listen to her and critically evaluate her message and supporting data. Education reform is a politically charged topic. We must move beyond ideologies and examine evidence of education outcomes. We must identify what works in education and eliminate what has not worked. When we look at the outcomes of education in America there can be little argument; our current education system is broken. Our children and our nation’s future are at risk.

Our mighty nation does not demonstrate its strength in educational outcomes. Here are some outcomes. Ask yourself, is this good enough? If your answer is no, then become a change agent. Find ways to participate in meaningful dialogs and activities to solve America’s academic crisis.

Condition of Education (2010)

25% – 50% of students drop-out of school never attaining a high school diploma.

Nationally, only 67 percent of 4th grade students read at or above the basic level. In many schools reading failure is an even greater problem.

Consider these measures of international academic outcomes:

PIRLS (2006)

- The U.S. 4th Grade Reading Score of 540 is above the mean of 500.
- Score higher than U.S. score: Russian Federation, Hong Kong, Canada (Alberta), Canada (British Columbia), Singapore, Luxembourg, Canada (Ontario), Hungary, Italy, and Sweden.
- Score similar to U.S. score: Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Denmark, Canada (Nova Scotia), Latvia, England, Austria, Lithuania, Chinese Taipei, and Canada (Quebec).

TIMSS (2007)

- The U.S. 4th Grade Math Score of 529 is above the mean of 500.
- Score higher than U.S. score: Hong Kong, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, England, and Latvia.
- Score similar to U.S. score: Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany, and Denmark.

Clearly, if nations that do not enjoy our vast resources can excel at educating their children, we should be able to do better than we do.