Making Motion But Making Little Progress

Joanne Jacobs:

High school seniors’ reading proficiency didn’t improve from 2002 to 2005 and declined from 1992 to 2005, according to the new Nation’s Report Card from NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). In math, less than a quarter of students tested as proficient in 2005. Since 1992, the percentage of 12th graders reading at or above the basic level has slipped from 80 percent to 73 percent; the percentage at or above proficiency declined from 40 to 35 percent.

The 2005 math scores couldn’t be compared to previous years because the exam “includes more questions on algebra, data analysis, and probability to reflect changes in high school mathematics standards and coursework.” In 2005, 61 percent of seniors performed at or above the basic level; 23 percent performed at or above proficient.

Remember that many low achievers have dropped out by 12th grade. These are scores for students who’ve stuck it out. There’s a reason education reformers are focusing on high schools. We’re in trouble.

Read the whole thing.

Why are so many high school students doing so poorly?

Certainly much of the problem lies with under-performing institutions, but how much responsibility for this failure should be borne by those students who not only disdain education but do their level-best to disturb and disrupt their school's learning environment, thereby depriving other students of their opportunity to obtain an education?

And what about government regulations which continue to tie the hands of teachers and school administrators by not allowing them to remove such disruptive students from mainstream classrooms and place them in the more structured classroom environments that they need?

Food for thought as we venture forth into yet another EduWeek. ---------------------------See our latest EduPosts.