<p>Our kids do not do as well in these math tests because our math education is not routinely accelerated. If the norm is not to reach calculus until the senior year of high school or even later, most kids will not test well in concepts they have not been taught. Kids in other countries, especially Asian ones, spend long days in school followed by after school tutoring schools, and then extra study. Americans tend to value participation in sports like soccer and other extra-curricular activities like Scouts. I do not think that American born parents have the will to have our kids engage in extreme studying.</p>
<p>I have heard it argued that understanding of more conceptual math like algebra requires a certain amount of brain maturity such that most kids below a given age can’t really grasp it. For the sake of argument, let us say that this is correct. If the U.S. is behind in math for our K-12 kids, do our kids catch up in college? Based on recent history, our financial literacy seems suspect, but are our grown-up kiddies able to make leaps and bounds in math once their brains have matured?</p>