This info is already all over many media sites today plus social media. Info like this spreads like wildfire.
School choice is great if you are privileged. If you want to see what charters schools have done, look at Detroit, a city that once was on par with the best school districts in the country. School choice and charter schools siphon off funds for those who cannot go wherever they want. One of the social contracts in this country, begun in Boston (as you all know, at least for white males), was that all children should have access. Our survival as a nation depends on it! What the articles are citing is decline is due, in large part, the interruptions from the pandemic and nearly constant use of individual electronics. There are many places in the country where absenteeism is still an issue 4 years after the worst of the shutdowns during the pandemic. Kids were out, and many of them are not attending school at pre-pandemic levels across the country. As we all know, the constant distraction of social media, “micro bits” of a near constant barrage of distracting infotainment is just plain bad for us. We know that. Ask any adult if they feel more distracted than they did 10 years ago. Stephen Pinker is doing a lot of interviews lately. He sees this in his courses that he teaches, some of which are courses that he’s taught for years, so he has a metric for comparison. > On Sep 9, 2025, at 11:18 AM, Esta Rogen <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is shocking to me. Another reason to take education from the federal and > union hands and perhaps allow school choice to move forward. > > This info will likely be suppressed by the usual media suspects however, at > least one makes it available today (WSJ). > ---------- > > Twelfth-Grade Math and Reading Scores in U.S. Hit New Low > American high-school seniors’ scores on major math and reading tests fell to > their lowest levels on record, according to results released Tuesday by the > U.S. Education Department. > > Twelfth-graders’ average math score was the worst since the current test > began in 2005, and reading was below any point since that assessment started > in 1992. The share of 12th-graders who were proficient slid by 2 percentage > points between 2019 and 2024—to 35% in reading and 22% in math. > > There also were drops in the proportion of students who were able to reach at > least a basic level of performance, a tier below proficiency. > > The results are from tests that are part of the National Assessment of > Educational Progress, administered to tens of thousands of students in early > 2024. > > The declines deepen slides that began before the pandemic, and are the latest > in a procession of gloomy data > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/reading-test-scores-american-students-5fb78d4e?mod=article_inline> > showing that U.S. students are learning less than several years ago. The > learning loss has been broad and substantial, showing up on international > exams and tests > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/us-student-test-scores-covid-impact-bf3ec65a?mod=article_inline> > of children just entering school > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/when-covid-hit-they-were-in-diapers-so-why-are-kindergarteners-struggling-7d75e37e?mod=article_inline>. > Few if any student groups or regions of the country have been entirely > spared. > > “Students are taking their next steps in life with fewer skills and less > knowledge in core academics than their predecessors a decade ago,” said > Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the board that oversees the tests. > “This is happening at a time when rapid advancements in technology and > society demand more of future workers and citizens, not less.” > > The 12th-grade scores come with an important asterisk. It is possible that > progress is being obscured by rising high-school graduation rates, which > could mean that more lower-performing students are taking the exams. It also > is unclear whether there has been any recovery in the time since these tests > were administered, more than a year and a half ago. > > In reading, two-thirds of seniors could determine the purpose of a persuasive > essay, but only one in five was able to draw a conclusion from such an essay, > supported by the text. > > In math, 60% of students deduced the population of an area using information > on size and density, while just under half correctly turned a real-world > scenario into an algebraic expression. > > Students who were already struggling tended to fall further behind, creating > an even wider gap between the top and bottom. Girls’ scores, on average, > dropped faster than boys’ > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/test-scores-girls-boys-learning-loss-db020858?mod=article_inline>. > Both trends have shown up on other assessments. > > Scores also fell on newly released 8th-grade science tests. Results were > similar to when the exam was first given in 2009. > > On other exams > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/reading-test-scores-american-students-5fb78d4e?mod=article_inline> > in earlier grades, scores have partially bounced back in math. Reading > scores have generally remained low or fallen further. > > Researchers note that many factors in and out of school affect student > learning, and that it is difficult to determine the causes behind the overall > numbers. > > U.S. studies have found that schools that were closed for in-person > instruction for longer during the pandemic tended to experience larger > learning declines. Since then, schools have been beset with challenges, > including high absence rates, student misbehavior > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/schools-student-misbehavior-remote-learning-covid-11639061247?mod=article_inline>, > teacher turnover and distraction from screens > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/schools-phone-screens-technology-research-c268bda5?mod=article_inline>. > Many other countries have also seen falling achievement > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/us-students-global-education-dd7424b2?mod=article_inline>. > > “We should be thinking of possible explanations that transcend national > boundaries,” said Martin West, academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School > of Education and vice chair of the board that oversees the national tests. > > He pointed to the influence of social media > <https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/jonathan-haidt-anxious-generation-book-smartphones-676bcadb?mod=article_inline> > and smartphones but added there is still no “smoking gun.” Many states have > recently passed laws restricting cellphones in schools > <https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/schools-lock-up-cellphones-to-keep-students-focused-7fc374fa?mod=article_inline> > in a bid to limit distractions. > > > > Esther > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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