·         American students scored 23rd in math and 31st in science when compared with 65 other top industrial countries. In math, we are beaten by countries from Lichtenstein and Slovakia to the Netherlands and Singapore. In science, we are beaten by countries from New Zealand and Estonia to Finland and Hungary.

·         Only 26% of our nation's high school seniors perform at proficient levels or above in mathematics and only 21% of our nation's high school seniors perform at proficient levels or above in science. And, when these students do enter college on a pathway toward a degree in science or engineering, nearly 40% of them switch majors in what one expert has called "the math-science death march."