The Nation's Report Card...and it Ain't Pretty!

Here's the document: National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4, 8 and 12. Some findings:

National and state samples of 156,500 fourth-graders and 151,100 eighth-graders, and a national sample of 11,100 twelfth-graders, responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge and abilities in physical science, life science, and Earth and space sciences. A proficiency scale was developed in 2009 to facilitate NAEP science reporting and to establish the baseline for future science assessment results. For all three grades, the scales were set ranging from 0 to 300 with a mean of 150. That is, the overall average student performance for each grade corresponds to a score of 150. The 2009 results highlight differences in students’performance based on demographic characteristics and how participating states compare to the national average.

What concerns me:

Grade 4

% At or above Basic:       72
% At or above Proficient: 34
% At or above Advanced: 1

Grade 8

% At or above Basic:       63
% At or above Proficient: 30
% At or above Advanced: 2

Grade 12

% At or above Basic:       60
% At or above Proficient: 21
% At or above Advanced: 1

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Science Assessment.

That is a steady decline and a persistently small elite that have to compete with nations that will soon graduate numerically more prepared college graduates in STEM than the US.

I noticed the State of the Union completely avoided the subject of outsourcing.

Sadly, this data almost legitimizes the practice.

Our "Sputnik Moment"...

A book I found profound and marvelled at the times when education was as important as breath in our bodies...