I love good news, and headlines yesterday announced that student performance is up on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The federal standardized test measures 4th and 8th grade reading and math.
But while I love good news, I don’t believe in denying or ignoring a reality we should instead be changing. Scores are up, but one look at proficiency rates is enough to tell us the good news is not that our schools are doing well, but that they are failing at a slower rate than last year.
“Results just released show Washington’s students again outperforming their national peers,” said the press release issued by our Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Today’s results show that our students are among the top in the nation.”
This doesn’t say much for performance in other states. The percentages of Washington students who scored proficient this year are as follows:
Math (4th grade) – 42%
Math (8th grade) – 36%
Reading (4th grade) – 35%
Reading (8th grade) – 34%
This means a large majority of students in both grades are still failing to score proficient in both reading and math. Further, the standards aren’t very high. To score proficient, students must get the following percentages of points possible:
Math (4th grade) – 249 of 500 = 50%
Math (8th grade) – 299 of 500 = 60%
Reading (4th grade) – 238 of 500 = 48%
Reading (8th grade) – 281 of 500 = 56%
Even more alarming, a report published last year by the national Brookings Institution shows that most of the problems on the 8th grade math portion of the NAEP can be solved with arithmetic skills learned by or before the 3rd grade.
We can continue to deny our education crisis, or we can do what it takes to fix it, even if it means shaking up the status quo. The future of a whole lot of kids rests on that decision.
I don't actually have a problem with '249 of 500' being passing... as long as the questions are suitably tough. It depends entirely on _how_ tough. There's also the question of different curriculums - one group might have spent the year focusing on one thing (say, fractions/decimals) while another spent the year on another (say geometrical properties). With both groups switching to the _other_ topic in the next year. Both groups are can be doing well - but testing proficiency with the same test can be tricky. One group will score near zero on one set of questions, and the other group will score near zero on a second set of questions.
Does 'proficient' mean 'on track to take Calculus in 12th grade' or 'on track to take pre-calc in 12th' or 'on track to take trig in 12th'? (Please, please say it isn't 'on track to take Algebra in 12th).
Posted by: Al on October 21, 2005 10:08 AMOn the other hand, my kids who are in elementary school have teachers who simply can't spell. I think they ought to make all of the teachers take the WASL. Because, quite frankly, the spelling and grammar errors I've seen are things a fifth grader can catch (and has caught and corrected). We've turned lemons into lemonade by playing editor. If a teacher can't pass the 10th-grade WASL with flying colors he/she should, at the very least, have to take remedial classes at the local community college! They make bad drivers take refresher courses.
Posted by: Peggy U on October 21, 2005 06:13 PMIn fact, one of my major complaints about public education...I can remember when special ed. classes were banned, and everybody was "mainstreamed". Because schools could no longer identify and assit struggling students, they just went into the classroom to slow down the entire group. Therefore, the next step was to take out the smart kids and shove them into seperate AP programs, instead of staying in class to raise the overall classroom standards. Now "AP" kids feed parent ego, but the remaining "average" classroom is in worse condition because those "not yet working at grade level" cannot be seperated for additional assistance.
For reasons I don't understand, it is acceptable to be labeled "AP", but not OK to be labeled "needs a little help to be working at grade level", and that difference has significantly dumbed down education.
I am aquainted with several families who chose homeschooling because their "smart" children spent significant portions of their school day "tutoring" their classmates, instead of being themselves taught. That's the unofficial method schools have been utilizing to cope with academically needy kids in the classroom.
One of my children dances, it is amazing how even a few strong or gifted students can inspire and raise the level of achievement in the entire class. A mixed class is a good thing, when there is extra help for those who need it.
This is so wrong, and one of the major reasons Washington public schools need a total makeover. Please excuse spelling and grammer errors...I'm a product of "mainstream" public schools.
Posted by: dl on October 22, 2005 11:00 AMI have a son who is only two years younger than his sister. He has taken the mainstream classes, and there is a night and day difference in content (at least at the high school level; I am not sure this is true of the grade school and middle school). Part of it boils down to a lack of motivation on his part. He is perfectly content with less work! His sister has a more competitive personality.
As far as their ability, I believe they are probably about even. The school will not push anyone to get ahead. In fact, at the lower grades they seem to throw roadblocks in front of accelerated students - give them busy work, put them to work as teachers' aides, etc. I sometimes get the feeling that the school system sees itself in the role of social equalizer. They try to even the playing field by undermining those they see as advantaged. From what I have seen, less effort and resources are put into fulfilling the needs of high-achieving students than are spent on those who need extra help. I suppose this is natural, as the schools have to make sure that everyone meets a minimum standard of learning. However, it means the potential of the remainder of the students is unrealized. It waters down the overall outcome.
Thomas Sowell recently wrote an article about this problem. He said that the achievement gap between American students and foreign students is most marked among those at the high-achieving end of the scale. I believe that more students would be motivated to move ahead and would work harder if they thought they had access to the harder classes. No one wants to be thought of as stupid or mediocre!
As to the spelling and grammar errors of my kids' teachers, I wonder sometimes if I am just overly anal. In our particular situation, however, there are so many blatant mistakes (ones that could be caught if they just would bother to use the spell checker!)that I am embarrassed for these people. These same teachers insist on "high quality" work from their students. They specifically instruct students to review their homework and correct spelling, grammar and punctuation errors before submitting assignments. I think they ought to at least be held to the same standards they expect of the kids. I am concerned that they may be ignorant of what constitutes high standards!
I wouldn't complain about occasional misspellings or mistakes. Everyone makes them! But when they are the rule rather than the exception, it kind of makes you wonder whether you ought to seek alternatives. In our case, we have tried to use these errors as learning tools! BTW, I am also a "product" of public schooling.
--Peggy
Posted by: Peggy U on October 22, 2005 05:43 PMSeveral years ago someone I knew who taught at Washington State University criticized me quite severely for homeschooling my daughters. She said I was "depriving them of a lot of education." She also boasted proudly about her own daughter who was a senior in high school, was taking advanced placement and "honors" classes, and had a 4.0 GPA. The daughter had also earned significant recognition and awards for her writing ability. About a year later, when the daughter began her freshman year at Eastern Washington University, she did not qualify for college level math or English classes, and had to take remedial courses.
She probably was an exceptionally smart girl, but her education had been left completely in the hands of people who weren't especially smart. She got the best they were able to deliver.
Her mother was sorely disappointed and started to question me about homeshooling. I think she was considering homeschooling her son, who was still in elementary school. I hope she did. Smart, motivated kids deserve a unique, high quality education. They only grow up once, so we need to make sure it gets done right the first time.