Facing test results showing the United States falling behind other countries in education, the U.S. did what a declining superpower tries to do - - it tried to kill the test.

From a fascinating BBC story on the rise of probably THE world test in education:

"Among the starkest revelations has been the decline of the US school system. This former education superpower has been caught up and left behind by many other countries, particularly in Asia.

This was distasteful medicine and Mr Schleicher says that the US administration was deeply unhappy with the 2006 results and was trying to apply pressure on the OECD.

The US politician who intervened to defend the importance of publishing the results was Ted Kennedy, says Mr. Schleicher (OECD administrator of the Pisa Test). Kennedy, who had chaired the senate committee on education, had become very supportive of the Pisa project.

'It was Senator Kennedy who saved my life at the OECD,' he says." 

This post was written by William A. Draves, who authored "Nine Shift: Work, Life, and Education in the 21st Century" with Julie Coates. Their latest book is "Pedagogy of the 21st Century." This post originally appeared on the Nine Shift blog.