Why 17-year-olds' scores have stalled since the '70s

[chanel]

He starts with a stark summary of how little progress American teenagers have made in the last four decades of aggressive efforts to improve public schools. I use this statistic often, but Samuelson emphasizes the point nicely by quoting the raw numbers:

“In 1971, the initial year for the [National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term] reading test, the average score for 17-year-olds was 285; in 2008, the average score was 286. The math test started in 1973, when 17-year-olds averaged 304; in 2008, the average was 306.”

He recounts explanations for this that fail to withstand scrutiny. The problem can’t be high student-teacher ratios because those have dropped. It can’t be minimal preschool preparation because a larger portion of children are getting that early start. Teacher pay has also improved to the point where two people married to each other and each making the average teacher salary of $53,230 “would belong in the richest 20 percent of households,” Samuelson says.

Instead, he concludes, “the larger cause of failure is almost unmentionable: shrunken student motivation. Students, after all, have to do the work. If they aren’t motivated, even capable teachers may fail

...in the last 40 years as "adolescent culture has strengthened, the authority of teachers and schools has eroded

One of the most recent examples of overblown rhetoric, he says, is U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s call for “a great teacher” in every classroom.

Duncan is obviously exaggerating what is possible.

Class Struggle - Why 17-year-olds' scores have stalled since the '70s

Wow. Is he suggesting that a student's attitude toward education is a factor in learning?

 

[Mad Scientist]

The solution to this problem is obvious: More money!

 

[California Girl]

There is very little point in having 'great teachers' if you don't have 'great students' and 'great parents'.

 

[Douger]

Problem is that kids seE they have no future.
Until murkinz learn how to vote/ They are 100 % CORRECT.

 

[Middleman]

I think a factor might be the demographic reality that the poor and uneducated have a higher birthrate. More responsible, educated people tend to practice better family planning. So, every decade you have a greater percentage of young people born into disorganized homes, often single parent ones, that lack a tradition and culture that values education and higher learning.

 

[Douger]

I think a factor might be the demographic reality that the poor and uneducated have a higher birthrate. More responsible, educated people tend to practice better family planning. So, every decade you have a greater percentage of young people born into disorganized homes, often single parent ones, that lack a tradition and culture that values education and higher learning.

Poor delusional soul.
Get a book and see what it's like when empires collapse/
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