Researchers have concluded that if the SAT test were given to a population of students similar to the one fifty years ago, the scores would not be very different. The scores for math would be the same and the verbal scores would be just slightly lower, and this would be due to changes in society, e.g., less reading, more TV, more video games. Researchers have carefully compared test results of students today with those twenty and fifty years ago and have concluded that today's students read better than ever and know more math and science. They also know at least as much literature and history as their parents and grandparents did in high school. Our student performance on the international tests is not as good, but it is so for some very good reasons.
Cultures are different.
These children generally will not do well on the tests. In addition, the US has a very different view of childhood than many of the other nations. Our children are permitted to date, hold jobs, and relax at the mall. In Japan and Korea children are in school or studying all-day and late into the night. They work harder in high school but relax in college.