Improve Reading Achievement. Teach More Social Studies
OUR STUDENTS/SCHOOLS AREN’T FAILING
Using the “failing schools” trope has long been a tactic of school “reformers” to claim that privatizing education is necessary. It was called out again in an article in Hechinger Report where we were told that…
Only a third of American students are reading proficiently at grade level, according to national benchmark tests.
(The article continues by suggesting that the failure to teach phonics is the reason for the poor test scores, but that’s a discussion for another time.)
This description of the apparent desperate condition of the nation’s readers comes from the NAEP test, the Nation’s Report Card. Diane Ravitch, a former member of the National Assessment Governing Board, has frequently reminded her readers that “proficient” on the NAEP is equivalent to “a very high level of academic achievement,” like a grade of A, and that a score of “basic” is not terrible.
When I served on NAGB for seven years, the board understood very well that proficient was a high bar, not a pass-fail mark. No member of the board or the staff expected that some day all students would attain “NAEP Proficient.” Yet critics and newspaper consistently use NAEP proficient as an indicator that “all students” should one day reach. This misperception CONTINUE READING: Improve Reading Achievement. Teach More Social Studies | Live Long and Prosper
