We don't really need another indicator of the need for school reform here in the U.S., but we got another one, in the form of an international comparison of math and science.

Says the Associated Press story titled U.S. Students Do Worse in Science and Math :

The test, the Program for International Student Assessment, was given to 15-year-olds in 30 industrialized countries last year. It focused on science but also included a math portion.

The 30 countries, including the United States, make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which runs the international test.

The average scores for U.S. students were lower than the average scores for the group as a whole.

U.S. students also had an average science score that was lower than the average score in 16 other OECD countries. In math, U.S. students did even worse — posting an average score that was lower than the average in 23 of the other leading industrialized countries.

And what's happened with all the money that we've spent on schools lately? Not much;

There was no change in U.S. math scores since 2003, the last time the test was given. The science scores aren't comparable between 2003 to 2006, because the tests aren't the same.

To see the results, check out the OECD web site.