U.S. fourth graders saw their math scores drop steeply between 2019 and 2023 on a key international test even as more than a dozen other countries saw their scores improve. Scores dropped even more steeply for American eighth graders, a grade where only three countries saw increases.
Since then, other research into post-pandemic academic performance has found widening gaps across race and income, even as many middle and higher income students are doing well.
Private school vouchers and destroying the Department of Education, and a healthy dose of white nationalist politics will surely address all this
This is the intentional plan.
Stupid people are easier to lie to.
Making more people more stupid has been the Republican MO for longer than Iâve been alive.
Bad at tests? Better require more tests. Also make school finding dependent on tests. Then teachers can spend all their class time teaching how to take tests. Oh and lets feed the kids hot garbage and stuff them in overcrowded under funded classrooms. America #1 đşđ˛
Crazy thing is, research says frequent testing actually improves learning. BUT, the way itâs practiced by a lot of educational institutions feels like major misinterpretations of this information. Itâs about practicing recall, and even better if itâs in a practical context and in low to no stakes scenarios.
Like you said, when you put so many incentives on test results, teaching to the test rather than the content becomes the norm, and everyone suffers.
The small testing for mastery isnât the issue and is really all that should be done. Itâs the hours and hours of state testing that we require of nine year olds thatâs the killer. We do quarterly testing starting in third grade with a major test at the end of the year in both reading and math (plus history for 4th and science for 5th). So leaving elementary school kids have completed 30 state assessments that each take several hours to complete (not every kid needs over an hour but youâre still in the testing environment until everyone is finished). Then, thereâs no consequences for failing. You still get promoted to the next grade and youâre invited to summer school but not required to attend. If I recall correctly, the data shows that testing is effective and beneficial if its short term, like a unit test, and not long term like a midterm or final.
I fully agree. We were teaching how to take tests back in the 1990âs. Iâm not going to start on how the voucher system is so beyond faulty. Donât have enough time for that. I also remember when cafeteria food was semi decent. Cafeteria ladies liked my skinny butt back then. Fed he heck out of me.
Cafeteria ladies liked my skinny butt back then. Fed he heck out of me.
Doesnât that mean they didnât like your skinny butt?
There was also a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and test scores. Students from higher income households and those who attended schools with more affluent students had higher scores.
Iâll be darned.
Just wait. Trump hasnât even shut down the Department of Education yet. Those scores can go lower!
The tests were done during COVID, and theyâre only a few percentage points different. This article is trying to shit on the US because (checks notes) other countries have improved their education programs. Erica Meltzer shame on you.
