National Center for Education Statistics – Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-20 Countries: 2015 (December 31, 2015). US Department of Education.
“Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-20 Countries: 2015 is a comparison of the education system in the United States with those in the other Group of 20 (G-20) countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. (We do not show data for the European Union, although it is included in the G-20, since it is a political entity that represents a number of countries, not a single education system.) The G-20 countries, which are among the most economically developed, represent 85 percent of the world’s economy and two-thirds of its population. These countries are some of the United States’ largest economic partners. The report draws on the most current information about eduation from the International Indicators of Education Systems (INES) project at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as reported in the Education at a Glance series, as well as international assessments that range from grade 4 through adulthood. These international assessments include the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which assesses fourth-graders in reading; the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which assesses fourth- and eighth-graders in mathematics and science; the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assesses 15-year-old students (regardless of grade) in mathematics, reading, science, and, occasionally, other subjects; and the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), which assesses adults, ages 16 to 65, in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments.”