News release: “The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) on December 7, 2010, showing that U.S. students are ranked average in reading and science, and below average in math. Among the 34 OECD countries, the United States ranks 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in mathematics, not significantly changed since the last time the report was conducted in 2006. Countries that landed in the top ten for all three disciplines include South Korea, Finland, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today called the findings a “wake-up call.” The PISA report comes on the heels of the just-released McKinsey Global Education Study that analyzes the performance levels of 20 school systems around the world. The results for U.S. students were not unexpected, but the both reports will undoubtedly cause some politicians to call for any and all education reforms to be accelerated across the country. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel urged caution, however, asking policymakers to carefully review the data before jumping to conclusions.”