American students need to hit the books. The latest international data show the United States ranks 24th among 34 developed countries in math and science achievement, including well below countries such as Slovenia, Vietnam and the Czech Republic.

Our dismal academic performance has real consequences for our economy. If U.S. students were to match the test scores of their Canadian peers — who rank 17 spots higher — the American economy would generate $10 trillion in additional growth over the next 35 years. That’s an average of $285 billion a year.

In order to raise the achievement level of American students, our schools have to do a better job teaching them. That means scrapping the age-old lecture model in favor of an approach that engages students directly and allows them to learn by doing.

A growing body of research has demonstrated the importance of “engaged learning” in a classroom that promotes team-based, experiential learning. Students must be free to sit in small groups, collaborate on hands-on projects, discuss ideas with one another and interact with technology.

Instead of holding court at the front of the classroom, teachers roam freely, providing individualized assistance and coaching. The evidence shows that this approach has worked in primary and secondary schools.

In 2009, for example, the math department at Minnesota’s Byron High School abandoned the traditional lecture setup for a form of engaged learning known as the “flipped classroom.” The share of students who passed the state mathematics test quickly rose from 29.9 percent in 2006 to 73.8 percent in 2011.

Team-based learning has been shown to improve knowledge retention among students by up to 90 percent.

Schools around the country have been investing in engaged-learning classroom designs in recent years. New York’s Campbell-Savona Central School District, for instance, recently overhauled three of its conventional classrooms. Thanks to a new integrated system of tables and chairs, teachers and students can easily adjust the room for either large-group instruction or small-group collaboration.

Unfortunately, classrooms like these are the exception rather than the norm. Given the reluctance among school districts to adopt teaching techniques that deviate from the status quo, even if they’ve been proven effective, it’s no wonder that student achievement has been stagnant.

Worse still, investments in school improvements have been declining. America’s educational leaders must commit to modernizing our schools to reflect the latest pedagogical research. Without learning environments that allow students to engage in active, hands-on learning, America’s educational performance will remain lackluster and the achievement gap between our nation and others will widen.

DICK RESCH

Green Bay, Wis.

The writer is CEO of KI Furniture.