The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has released results of its recently completed international adult skills assessment survey, considered to be the most comprehensive such study ever.  The results are not pretty for the world’s richest country and only remaining superpower.

What follows are some “headline” results from the survey. Read ‘em and weep.

>The U.S. ranks 16th out of 23 countries in literacy proficiency …

>21st in numeracy proficiency

>14th in problem solving in technology-rich environments

Adding insult to injury, these below-average basic literacy and numeracy rankings come despite the fact American adults have higher-than-average levels of educational attainment compared to adults in other countries.

Wait, it gets even worse! Older Americans have better skills than our average young person between the ages of 16 and 24.  Journalist Amanda Ripley, author of "The Smartest Kids In The World" commented in the Huffington Post that this particular finding "perfectly encapsulates how the U.S. hasn't gotten much worse or much better, but that's not what's happened around the world. Other countries have changed a lot while we have stood still. That's the effect of more of these kids going to stronger education."

The results also show our country’s highest-skilled adults are on par with those in other leading nations.  It is our most disadvantaged citizens, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, who are lagging in the skills race.  Socioeconomic status determines one’s skill level more in the United States than in any other country included in the survey.  People born to well educated, affluent parents in the U.S. do better on the skills tests; those less fortunate do less well.  (See the complete study at the link by clicking here.)

In effect, these results are a repetition, or call it a continuation, of the situation with our K-12/16 educational system.  America’s best students can compete with top students the world over.  But the United States is failing to train a considerable portion of its citizens to world-class standards.

Are you really surprised? Are you motivated to do something?  Because this matters. Late this summer (August 15), there was an excellent op-ed in the New York Times about “What Ails Detroit”. The author, Stephan Richter, publisher of the online magazine The Globalist, says this about Detroit’s once legendary economic power:

“But that dominance [of the automotive industry] was, to a considerable degree, a momentary quirk of history: the absence, in the wake of World War II, of any real competition from other nations. Once foreign competition was re-established, in Europe and Asia, only the superior skills of a nation’s workers and a focus on long-term workers’ training would allow a country to stay ahead. …

“It is tragic to hear voices from Detroit declaring themselves ready for a resuscitation of the city. Revival is a question not just of will but also of the available skills base, which unfortunately has deteriorated as a result of a failure to invest in training.”

Today, the entire country runs the risk of becoming a Detroit writ large. It is time to stop deluding ourselves that as a society we are investing enough in adult training. We’re not.  Not enough to remedy the effects of past disadvantages, not enough to keep pace with the accelerating rates of technology that we have done so much to put into motion.

Quote of the Day: "Our younger population should be doing better than our older population. The older population is better educated. And the younger population is entering the workforce." -- Paul Peterson, Harvard University, commenting on the OECD study