ALARMING NAEP REPORT, ON TOP OF DEFICIENCIES REVEALED BY COVID’S IMPACT ON EDUCATION REQUIRES URGENT ACTION

Nation’s Report Card shows dismal results in subjects necessary for global citizenship

(Washington, D.C.) The results of the latest nation’s Report Card reveal that only 15 percent of 8th grade students are proficient in history, and fewer than 24 percent and 25 percent are proficient in civics and geography, respectively.  The scores disaggregated by race are more stark - with fewer than 50% of white students and only between 10-20% of minority students meeting proficiency levels depending on the subject.

The results should startle Americans.

Said Peggy Carr, the associate commissioner of the National Center on Education Statistics which administers the Nation’s Report Card: “The results provided here indicate that many students are struggling to understand and explain the importance of civic participation, how American government functions, the historical significance of events and the need to grasp and apply core geographic concepts.”

Just last fall, both math and reading assessments revealed that student achievement was either flat or dropping for most US students. There had been no significant change from the prior 2017 assessment in math and marked decreases in reading. Reading scores were lower in more than half of the states at grade 8 since 2017.

Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform (CER) said the following about the future of school in light of the recent results and the pandemic:

“As families and students hunker down amidst the coronavirus pandemic, they are discovering first hand what today’s results reveal - that not only are their students unprepared for a new world of learning but most schools today are not set up to help them achieve their highest potential.

“What we’ve seen during this crisis is that those states, districts and schools that are doing best are the innovators that deliver high quality education and were able to shift quickly from the classroom to the family room. Those that didn’t - from wealthy Fairfax County, which still cannot get its students online, to San Francisco, which has determined education should not count during the crisis - represent the worst of American education and the reason it must change now for all students to succeed.

“Education has never been more important. When we come out of this crisis, there will be new jobs, new requirements and new global awareness necessary. Not having a command of who we are, why we exist, and how one participates in society is a dismal failure of the US education system.  

“The teachers are not to blame. Their so-called leaders are. The teachers who are doing heroic work now must become the leaders. They should drive decision making, not the administrators. The teachers who are connected to students and working overtime - where they are permitted - to ensure they don’t lose touch with their students are the entrepreneurs, the innovators that we must empower to lead us out of this pandemic and out of a failing system, away from dependency on large, amorphous, 20th-century school districts which are not set up to foster educational success even when students are in buildings!  

“We need a new way of school. And we’ve outlined a plan here and invite all who are interested in truly educating students to join us.”

To access THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL go to https://edreform.com/future-of-school-policy/. Learn more about CER’s ACTION Series.

Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform (CER) aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that the conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom, and flexibility throughout U.S. education.