Report touts 'good news' in public education
08/23/05 -- Today’s students take tougher courses, achieve at higher levels, and earn more college degrees than they did 20 years ago, states a new report -- Do You Know…The Latest Good News About American Education -- released Aug. 3 by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) in Washington, D.C.
“The critics of public education have had their day. Now it is time to set the record straight,” says CEP President and CEO Jack Jennings. “Given the amount of negative attacks and media reports they have sustained, many might believe that the nation’s public schools are in the worst shape they have ever been, and that is simply not the case.”
The report finds that “U.S. public schools have improved in major ways since the mid-1980s, when states began taking steps to reform education by setting high standards for student learning.”
Among the positive trends that have gone largely unrecognized:
• More children are attending full-day kindergarten. In 1983, just under a third of kindergartners went to school a full day. Now, more than 60 percent do.
“This is good news because recent research from NCES [National Center for Education Statistics] suggests that children in full-day kindergarten learn more early reading and math skills during the year than those in half-day kindergarten,” the report states.
• Younger students are showing gains in reading achievement. “In 2004, the average reading score reached a high-water mark of 219, the highest score since NAEP began testing reading in 1971. And most of these gains have occurred since 1999.”
• The average SAT math score of 518 for the entering college freshmen class of 2004 is 14 points higher than the average for 1994 and 21 points higher than the average for 1984. The average SAT verbal score of 508 is 9 points higher than in 1994 and 4 points higher than for 1984. This is especially encouraging as many more students are now taking the test.
• The percentage of high school graduates completing a core academic curriculum -- including four years of English and three years each of math, science, and social studies -- quadrupled from 14 percent to 57 percent from 1982 to 2000.
• The percentage of high school graduates completing advanced math courses (more challenging than Algebra II or geometry) rose from 26 percent in 1982 to 45 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, the percentage completing advanced science courses (more challenging than general biology) rose from 35 percent to 63 percent.
• Test score gaps between white and minority students have narrowed to the smallest margins in three decades on long-term NAEP trend assessments in math and reading.
• School-related crime and violence rates fell from a high of 144 total nonfatal incidents per 1,000 students ages 12 to18 in 1992 to 64 incidents per 1,000 students in 2002.
• The percentage of high school graduates immediately enrolling in college has risen from about 55 percent in 1984 to 64 percent in 2003. Meanwhile, the proportion of young adults completing a bachelor’s degree or higher has climbed from 22 percent in 1985 to 29 percent in 2002.
• The percentage of Americans 25 or older who have completed high school jumped from 74 percent to 84 percent from 1985 to 2002, and the percentage who completed college rose from 19 percent to 27 percent.
Additional good news that the report has found is that pupil-teacher ratios are falling; almost all U.S. classrooms have Internet access; students are safer at school; fewer high school teachers are teaching outside their field of preparation; parents would rather reform the current public education system than find an alternative one; and public school enrollments are growing faster than private school enrollments.
But the news is not all good, and the report highlights areas that need more attention.
It calls for a renewed focus on reducing dropout rates and providing additional support to minority and low-income students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. The report also calls for a greater effort to reform the nation’s high schools.
Reform efforts of the past two years have made a difference, Jennings says. “By emphasizing the positive trends, we hope to encourage parents, educators, students, political leaders, and other citizens to continue their work to make public schools better for all students.”
| Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2005, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789. |