We're NOT Number One--Or Number Fifteen, Even

AP with report on new global survey of adults in various countries and their level of reading, math skills and problem solving.  We see a lot of such stories on students but this is grown-ups.  And the USA, of course, ranks "below average" they find, placing 16, 17, and 21.   Japan, Finland, Sweden and some of the other usual suspects do well. Consider this:  "Japan, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Flanders-Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Korea all scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test."

And folks in Poland and Estonia, among other countries, scored as well as U.S. in tech areas.

Americans scored toward the bottom in the category of problem solving in a technology-rich environment. The top five scores in the areas were from Japan, Finland, Australia, Sweden and Norway, while the U.S. score was on par with England, Estonia, Ireland and Poland. In nearly all countries, at least 10 percent of adults lacked the most basic of computer skills such as using a mouse.