Also pay attention to the progress over time. Scores are higher than they were in 1990, but if we control for ethnicity, we do seem to be been plateaued for a number of years. Aggregate scores over time are much affected by the fact that the population share represented by both white and black students has declined, while the shares for Asian and Hispanic students have increased. The Asians, of course, bring up the averages. The Hispanics bring them down. Since we are on track to become majority Hispanic in the foreseeable future, this is not good news.
Too bad we are not able to have comparable data from the 1960 HS graduates vs. these recent grads.
The 1960 data would blow the recent grads out of the water in both math and reading levels.
Back then, students weren’t passed up to the next grade until they passed required courses.
We generally had better teachers then that weren’t bent toward teaching a political doctrine, but instead stuck to course materials. ....I failed courses after each of the 9th, 10th and 11th grades (in each case the courses were taught by Coaches) and had to attend Summer School to retake those courses, making As and Bs each time because the SS teachers knew HOW to teach.
After my Navy service, I earned an AAS, BBA and MBA.