At the Beijing Olympics , The U.S. may dominate...but as Jessica Forres reports a leading think tank says American students are losing badly when it comes to academic competition....

LISTEN TO THE STORY

---------------------------------------------------
SCRIPT:

RIGHT NOW IN THE EDUCATION OLYMPICS WE ARE TIED FOR 19^TH WE ARE BEHIND

POWERHOUSES LIKE ESTONIA AND SLOVENIA TIED WITH COUNTRIES LIKE GHANA SO THIS IS NOT GOOD. WE ARE PERFORMING MUCH WORSE IN THE EDUCATION OLYMPICS THAN WE ARE IN THE BEIJING OLYMPICS.

He says there are 58 events, each based on test scores from a section of four international exams covering Math, Science, Reading and Civics.

OUR EDUCATION PROBLEMS ARE REALLY ACROSS THE BOARD IT’S NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT’S HAPPENING IN THE INNER CITY OR IN POOR RURAL COMMUNITIES. IN THE AFFLUENT SUBURBS TOO OUR KIDS ARE SIMPLY NOT LEARNING AS MUCH AS THEIR PEERS OVERSEAS

He says Finland is leading the way with 32 medals while the U.S. is still at zero.