US Students Lag Global Peers in Key Subjects on PISA 2025, Fueling School Choice Debate

The 2025 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, released September 8, 2026, by the OECD, reveal that U.S. 15-year-olds scored above the OECD average in science (502 vs. 482) and reading (490 vs. 461), with math performance matching the OECD average at 463. However, these figures mask persistent challenges: reading scores dropped 14 points since 2022—the lowest U.S. reading score since PISA began in 2000—while math and reading remain below pre-COVID levels. Only 13% of U.S. students reached top proficiency levels (5 or 6) in reading and 8% in math, far below Singapore (37% in math) and Chinese provinces (54% in math). Twenty-four countries outperformed the U.S. in math, with Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and others leading across domains. The U.S. showed a wider performance gap between top and bottom students (298 points) than many peers and excelled above average in a new computational problem-solving assessment. Globally, one in five students was low-performing across subjects. Education Secretary Linda McMahon highlighted stagnation and called for universal school choice to overhaul a 'one-size-fits-all' system, noting losses equivalent to over a year of learning in reading since 2015. Official NCES and OECD data confirm U.S. participation by over 4,600 students across 91 systems, underscoring equity issues and the need for targeted support amid broader declines. These outcomes connect to domestic NAEP trends and ongoing policy shifts toward state-level control and parental choice.