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[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

     "The academic skills of the typical U.S. 15-year-old are average 
compared with most of the industrialized world, but a larger proportion 
of American teens see themselves holding top-paying jobs in the future, 
a report out September 14, 2004 shows. The study, by the Paris-based 
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, finds that, as 
in past years, U.S. students' reading performance sits around the middle 
of a 27-nation pack, just five points higher than average; math 
performance is five points lower than average. U.S. students also rank 
below average in high school graduation rates and just about average in 
school 'engagement,' or how much they participate and feel a sense of 
belonging. But when asked what kind of job they expect to hold by the 
time they're 30, 80.5% of U.S. students said they'd have a 
'white-collar, high-skilled' job, far exceeding the average of 62.2%. 
U.S. girls had even higher expectations of themselves, with 85.8% 
expecting a top job by age 30. Among all nations, only students in 
Mexico had higher expectations