TIMSS and poverty with an update

Clive McFarlane has a column today on the results of the TIMSS exam; Massachusetts students did really well internationally.
Mr. McFarlane only has so much space (and he got Secretary Reville on the phone!), so I should perhaps comment that I also said we do great things with our kids, regardless of their circumstances, but we need stop pretending that kids come to us on a level playing field.
(Something the Secretary also apparently feels is true.)
Could we start talking about TIMSS when we talk about pre-natal care, child nutrition, housing, health care, and the host of other societal supports that should surround our kids?


UPDATE: thanks to the alert reader who sent me this link to a comparison on the poverty gap of the US and other countries. Worth a look. It's not an education crisis: it's a childhood poverty crisis.