How China and Canada Beat the U.S. in Educating Poor Kids

Every three years, a random sample of 15-year-olds across the world take the same test in reading, math and science, known as PISA.

The scores released this month are “extremely concerning,” says Tracey Burns, who studies top-performing education systems around the world for a Washington-D.C. based nonprofit, the National Center on Education and the Economy.