In literacy, Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 were 21st among the 23 countries tested, ahead of only Spain and Italy. In numeracy (the ability to apply basic math in the everyday world), young Americans were 23rd; and in technology, in which Princeton testers thought U.S. Millennials would excel, they finished in last again—tied with Ireland, Poland and the Slovak Republic.
In a more discouraging twist, U.S. Millennials scored below their older Baby Boomer and Gen X counterparts.
“We really thought [U.S.] Millennials would do better than the general adult population, either compared to older coworkers in the [United States] or to the same age group in other countries,” says Madeline Goodman, an ETS researcher who worked on the study, “but they didn’t. In fact, their scores were abysmal.” (Time)