In the face of global economic recession, the competition and collaboration for innovation and future growth among nations has led to discussions of how young people are being prepared to become the next generation of workers and leaders. Although the U.S. has enjoyed a strong presence among the international community since the turn of the century, U.S. scores on international reading assessments and the GCI have dropped over the past decade. National literacy assessment comparisons on the NAEP show that variations exist in economic equity and literacy achievement among the fifty states. Multiple Spearman rho calculations were performed in the study to examine the possibility of a correlation between academic achievement and economic health using the PISA OECD country literacy rankings, the NAEP U.S. state literacy rankings, and the GDP per capita from 2009. In doing so, the possibility of a correlation between international and national data was investigated. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]