Posted on 08/19/2009 9:21:33 AM PDT by Steelfish
AUGUST 19, 2009
College-Entrance Test Scores Flagging
ROBERT TOMSHO
Only about a quarter of the 2009 high school graduates taking the ACT admissions test have the skills to succeed in college, according to a report on the exam that shows little improvement over results from the 2008 graduating class.
The Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT said 23% of this year's high school graduates had scores that indicated they were ready for college in all four ACT subject areas, or had at least a 75% chance of earning a grade of C or better in entry-level courses. Last year, a similar ACT analysis found that 22% of the class of 2008 was college-ready.
"We're not making the progress we need to be making," said Bob White, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy group focused on boosting high-school graduation rates. "The only way you improve these numbers and get them higher is by improving your secondary schools."
About 1.48 million of the 3.3 million members of the high school class of 2009 took the ACT, typically in their junior year. (snip)
The report comes as budget concerns are forcing many state universities to cut back on slots for new students and raise admission standards.
Observers said the report is likely to intensify calls for Congress to stress high-school improvement when it debates reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind law, perhaps as early as this year. Passed in 2001, the law's primary emphasis so far has been on boosting achievement in the lower grades.
Among single subject areas, the level of preparedness was worst in science, where only 28% of students were ready for college-level biology. Another problem was math, where 42% were deemed prepared for college algebra.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Don’t worry about this though, NEA. You just make sure them kids are tolerant to gays, don’t worry about them knowing how to write, read, or know their ass from their elbow.
Television.
We just need to pump more money into the schools (and of course the teachers union) and the problem with resolve itself ... /sarc
It is my belief that the ONLY REASON for having a Federal Education department is to set either the entrance or exit standards for grade level / college to be accepted by other colleges as part of the executive enforcement of interstate commerce in education.
From that premise, if a student can perform X, then they must be accepted at Y grade. Standardization of HS diploma type of thing. The Education Department would then set the standards for X and handle complaints of non-acceptance of proof of performance for the grade level.
No student loans
No grants
No title IX
Less overhead
etc
I know it will never happen, but I can dream.
“No NEA Member Left Behind Act”
Blame the public option in education.
My daughter spent two years being an RA, and the class of freshman that she had last year was terrible. She found they had an extreme sense of entitlement, and after interacting with them for a while, decided that very few of them should really be in college at all.
Not enough money.
Need more money for schools.
About $12k/student is NOT enough.
Do I need to put a sarcasm tag on this?
A quarter of the population is probably about the maximum that has use for a real college education. What should probably be more troubling (but never will be) is the evolution of all the crap courses so that we can hand degrees to people who dont belong in college at all.
And yet politicians imply it is our moral duty to put EVERYONE through college, whether it’s appropriate or not for the kid.
Take it a step further, I guess everyone also deserves to be a brain surgeon or rocket scientist or elite musician/artist/etc.?
Take a look the education plan under the UN Agenda 21. That’s what is happening in our schools. It all sounds like science fiction but it’s real and it’s here and now.
I’m not doubting the data, but let me just say this about the ACT science portion of the test. It has little to do with straightforward science information or facts known and more to do with interpreting data from charts, or passages given.
Here’s some sample passages and quesitons:
http://www.actstudent.org/sampletest/science/sci_01.html
Reduced levels of Bible reading are starting to take effect...
I have not met a high school student who could complete a sentence, let alone a thought.
I am constantly amazed at the number of grown ups who know NOTHING about biology (unless they have a medical issue).
I can’t believe how many educated, accomplished adults I know, some in their 50s, who can’t even point out on their own bodies where the stomach, liver, kidneys and intestines are.
Thus, the community college and its plethora of ‘developmental’ offerings for the ‘at-risk’ twenty year old. The answer was before us the entire time - we need more schools to fix the schools.
I’ve taught middle school and high school biology and science as a substitute in recent years. The textbooks are horrible, and the schools rarely do labs. The textbooks are terribly edited, on basic grammar and thematic flow issues. You have questions at the end of chapters that are misreadings of the text.
In some texts the attempt to PROVE evolution very much distorts and makes overly complex the discussion of the cell.
I can understand why the kids are failing. Only the very rare best of of teachers can jump over the obstacles of bureaucratic guidelines that ruin textbooks and make teaching and learning both an impossibly confusing drudge.
I mean, if everything in public school was exactly the way you want it, and if realistic college admission standards existed, do you seriously think that MORE than 28% of American 18-year olds wuold be capable of passing Bio 101/102?
I don't.
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