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Students Taking Tougher Courses, Dropout Rates Soar |
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Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
CALIFORNIA
By Chris Levister
Nation’s Report Card “Sobering and Puzzling”
The newly released results from the 2005, 12th grade
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) known as the "Nation's Report
Card" and the 2007 California Education Report Card present a mixed picture of
educational achievement for high schoolers. Overall high school achievement is
stalled, the education gap between whites and low income students and students
of color is widening and dropout rates are soaring.
Over a quarter of high school seniors can't read at a basic
level. That's a big drop from 1992 the baseline for the tests. The results in
mathematics are worse, only one in five 12th graders scored at the proficient
level ready for college math. Almost half are below the basic level in science.
 Two new reports say over a quarter of high school seniors lack even basic reading skills.
"On the one hand high school students are earning more class
credits, enrolling in supposedly tougher courses and earning higher grade point
averages, on the other hand the reading score was the lowest since 1992." said
Charles Smith director of the NAEP Governing Board which oversees the
tests.
As bad as these numbers are, the data on the achievement of
low-income students and students of color is even more painful and alarming.
The report card shows more than four in 10 African-American
and Hispanic students fail to graduate and that overall 75 of every 100
students who enter 9th grade will make it to the 12th grade four years later.
"This is not a report card that any student would want to
bring home to their parents, and it's not a report card that I am proud to
deliver to the California
taxpayers."
That's Lance T. Izumi, director of Education Studies at the
Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free market think tank based in San Francisco. Results of
the 2007 California Education Report Card: Index of Leading Education
Indicators are just as sobering.
PRI graded 17 aspects of California's education system,
including accountability systems, test standards, graduation rates, courses and
pupil funding, there were six "F's", five "D's", four "C's", one "B" and one
"A".
"Accountability" received an "F", the report states under
the Academic Performance Index (API) many low performing schools will take
decades to raise their performance to proficient levels.
California Standards Tests also received an "F". Only four
in 10 students grades two through 11 scored at or above the proficient level in
English language arts and math in 2006.
Fewer students in California
are taking difficult math and science courses compared to the national average
and a large majority of students are not taking college preparatory courses.
There was at least one bright spot in the report. Since
1990, Black graduates have closed a 6 percentage point gap with white graduates
in the percentage completing at least a midlevel curriculum.
A national education official who asked to remain anonymous
claims since the inception of No Child Left Behind five years ago, schools have
been jumping through hoops chasing testing dictates all the while academic
achievement is going no where.
"The real question here is, is Calculus 101 as rigorous as they
claim?" The course names may have changed, the GPA's may have improved but the
expectations and instruction have not changed."
"This problem underscores the fact that issues of curriculum
and teacher quality are more acute for students of color. For example,
African-American graduates who completed Calculus perform math at the same
levels as white graduates who completed just Pre-calculus or Statistics," says
Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a Washington think tank.
In the classroom many educators are reaching the same
conclusion. Maria a Rialto
high school math teacher says schools have different expectations for different
groups of students.
"It's not enough to put fancy new titles on courses with
weak curriculum and call them "advanced", naturally less prepared kids from
lower performing schools will fall behind, thus the achievement gap widens and
the dropout rate grows."
Maria says schools need to get serious about accountability.
"We've got to ensure that all students have access to qualified teachers who
are capable of translating advanced coursework like Calculus into academic
achievement."
"High quality coursework that doesn't result in academic
achievement is advanced in name only." the educator said. "Without rigorous
curriculum and good teaching, the notion that high schools are improving
academic achievement is mere pretense."
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