Sure, they may score better on the tests for comparing students across the world, but it seems like the same people saying this are the same ones complaining about standardized testing in the US.
Is there any empirical evidence supporting this assertion?
If you look at Business School rankings, for example, US Universities are 5 of the top 10. Source: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ran...
Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings also have US Universities rated quite high http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-uni...
7 of the top 10 for CS are US: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-uni...
6 of the top 10 for Medicine: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-uni...
6 of the top 10 for Philosophy: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-uni...
Part of the deal is the US is not at all like most other countries, I've mentioned we provide public schooling for all children, which some countries don't. The US is also very large and diverse. Texas, for instance, is generally quite low on the public educations scores for public schools overall, but some of the best schools in the entire US, regardless of public or private, are public schools in Texas! You just have to live in the right school district, which almost always mean you live in the right family with a lot of money.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2011/americas...
I'm not sure about the #1 and #2 schools, but further down, Highland Park in Dallas and Westwood and Westlake in Austin are all public schools.
I think it is almost impossible to have a good talk about education on HN, because we are essentially part of the 1% as far as abilities go, and most of us probably got along fine in school with any effort (or even no effort). So the bias tends to be against education. However, I've now had a son who is dyslexic, and the lack of good options even for people with money is dissapointing. The US school system is still very good for the top of the class, it's the bottom that gets let down. At any school system of any size that I've encountered (and I haven't been to very poor inner-city school), opportunities for the smart kids are always there. It's the rest of the kids that are going to struggle, and those that can't find the motivation.