“Research shows that the language barrier can have a disastrous effect on learning outcomes. “
There you have it. Couldn’t spell, couldn’t comprehend and couldn’t think for themselves. AND wouldn’t speak English.
Demography plays a part. By 2019 half of the children 18 and under will be minorities as classified by the USG. Blacks and Hispanics have the highest dropout rates and lowest achievement scores. The changing composition of the students will be reflected in the test scores. Asian do better than everyone else.
I retired last year along with the Language Arts teacher. She was told she could NOT teach grammar. She did anyway, sneaking in about 10 minutes in the middle of the class period.
I touched bases with the new science teacher who replaced me, and she was told they will not be ordering any new science textbooks, for that matter they will not be using any textbook in the future. All well and good if you have access to computers and the internet every class period, but they are lucky to get their hands of computers twice a week.