With little happening in education locally during the break, we turn our attention to global matters... I didn't have a chance earlier this month to write about the release of the TIMSS math and science test administered in 2007 to fourth- and eighth-graders in dozens of countries worldwide. (Yes, it took a year to release the results.)

If you don't know already, the United States at least performed above average. Fourth-grade math scores, for example, were better than 23 other countries, worse than eight and not measurably different than four. Our math scores were better than the last time the test was administered, in 1995; our science performance was about the same.

But perhaps the most interesting bit of news came from Kazakhstan, the country humiliated by the Borat movie. Contrary to its cinematic depiction, Kazakhstan had the fifth-best fourth-grade math scores in the world, ranking behind only Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. Though statistically similar to No. 9 Netherlands and No. 10 Lithuania, the United States officially ranked 11th.