Austin Public School Officials Offer Their Perspective on AIR’s International Mathematics Benchmarking Study

Washington, D.C. – Austin school officials have responded to an American Institutes for Research (AIR) study that compares the mathematics performance of students in 11 U.S. cities with that of their international peers, calling it “an interesting and important paper that allows us to think about where American school districts stand in comparison to students around the world.”

In the report Counting on the Future: International Benchmarks in Mathematics for American School Districts, AIR researcher Dr. Gary Phillips found that fourth- and eighth-grade students in six cities, including Austin, are performing on par or better than their peers in many countries, while students in five other cities are performing below the international average.

Dr. Pascal Forgione, Jr., Superintendent of the Austin Independent School District, and Dr. Lisa Schmitt, Administrative Supervisor of the Department of Program Evaluation of the Austin Independent School District, have written their assessment of the significance of the study. They said the findings “help us benchmark how well we are preparing our students for participation in the global economy.”

About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is an independent, nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.