New research sheds light on the claim that U.S. students' achievement lags behind that of students worldwide. This research reveals a paradox: While large amounts of U.S. students who take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fail to meet its Proficient benchmarks in reading and math, when students' results on NAEP are statistically mapped onto the scores of students in 30-plus countries who've taken one of an international assessment given by the International Education Association, U.S. students' achievement in reading and math rises to the top. The report's analysis showed that the majority of students in most countries wouldn't reach "proficiency" on NAEP tests if their countries used NAEP. Harvey claims the flawed benchmarks for "proficiency" chosen for NAEP (and by extension for Common Core assessments) have led to a situation in which American students are expected to meet a standard that the majority of students worldwide couldn't meet.