• Mixed: the trends go in strongly opposite directions during different periods.
  • Unclear: too few years of data to establish a trend.

Measures in green indicate an improving national trend or that we are outperforming at least 80% of countries.

Measures in red indicate a declining national trend or that we are outperforming less than 50% of countries.

Measures in yellow indicate stable trends or that we are outperforming 50-79% of countries.

Summary of Results

We chose to measure the state of education on three dimensions: eighth-grade test scores, years of education, and percentage of young adults who are either in school or employed. We are improving or remaining stable on all three education measures compared with other countries, and we rank near the top on years of education among adults. However, on two of the three measures—test scores (averaged across three main subjects) and percentage working or in school—we are in the top half of countries. Also, the trend in our test scores displays an inverted-U pattern, improving up to the mid-2010s, then stagnating or declining in more recent years (depending on the subject).

Related Topics

Education is a key factor in making people qualified for work (see the Work & Labor Force section) and improving worker productivity (see the Economy section). The Trust section provides evidence of declining trust in higher education.

Other Measures Considered

The board also considered, but did not include, other measures, including parent ratings of school quality. The public also narrowly rejected that measure (68% support).