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Schools in the U.S continue to lower standards
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If the United States is having a tough time competing in the global economy now, there is not much hope for the country in the future. The public education system in the U.S is producing a nation of idiots.
New research by the Department of Education indicates that nearly a third of the states have lowered their academic proficiency standards in order to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Law. The study is meant to provide statistical comparisons between federal and state tests to analyze whether or not states have changed their testing standards.
Between 2005-2007, 15 states lowered their proficiency standards in fourth or eighth grade reading or math. Maine, Oklahoma, and Wyoming lowered standards in both subjects in both grade levels. What is interesting about this piece of information is the fact that Oklahoma has no business lowering its standards. The state's public education system has been facing much scrutiny because only one in four of its students could name the first president of the U.S.
According to the study, eight states have increased the rigor of their standards in one or both subjects in fourth and eight grade. On the other hand, some states raised the bar on one subject, and lowered the requirements on another. New York raised the standards for math, and lowered the bar on reading.
While talking to Sam Dillon of the New York Times, Peggy Carr, and associate commissioner at the Department of Education said, "Over all, standards were more likely to be lower than higher," in 2007, compared with the earlier year.
Here are the 15 states that lowered one or more standards:
Delaware
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Kentucky
Maine
Missouri
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Virginia
West Virginia
Wyoming
Researchers found that there is wide variation among states. For instance, the highest standards can be found in South Carolina, and Massachusetts, while the lowest standards are in Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says that we are "lying to our children." But I think we are lying to parents as well. Lowering standards makes parents think their child's achievement can be compared to students from other states. However, if your child is a shining star in Oklahoma or Georgia, he or she would fail miserably in Massachusetts or South Carolina.
The varying quality of education from one state to another also creates a problem for standardized testing and college entry exams. How can the College Board craft a Scholastic Aptitude Test while considering the massive discrepancy from one state to the next?
Students in at least one third of the country's states are being deprived of an education because districts want to meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. This is disgusting and unacceptable. The public school system in the U.S is fundamentally broken, and it continues to dissolve into something that can no longer be described as education... it's daycare for imbeciles.
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