Arizona reading scores rank near bottom in U.S.

AZ Republic ^ | Maggie Galehouse

[hsmomx3]

Reading skills of Arizona's fourth- and eighth-graders are scraping bottom compared with the rest of the nation, according to a national report released Thursday.

Results from the 2002 Nation's Report Card on reading show Arizona's fourth-graders trailing the national average by 12 points.

[hsmomx3]

Okay, homeschoolers. How is it that we can teach our kids to read for far less $$$ and do it well?

Also, this is just another way to ask for more $$$ to the classrooms.

[milan]

You know, somebody has to be in last place...and I think my state is it. The good news is that my kids are not the problem.

[lady lawyer]

The states near the border are overrun with illegal aliens, many of whom speak little English. That is the problem. I used to be a school board member in a district on the Mexican border. In another article, it said that California schools now rank second from the bottom in reading. Same reason.

[DoughtyOne]

I resent the implication that Arizona's scores may be lower than ours in California. We take our reading score seriously out here. Get in line if you want to be lower than us. lol

I thinking that Bush should throw another $40 billion at the DOE, on top of the additional $40 billion he already gave them. That oughta fix it even more, for sure! ROTF LMAO

What ever happened to fixing it starting TODAY?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Okay, homeschoolers. How is it that we can teach our kids to read for far less $$$ and do it well?

Because you can read yourselves -- which is not a safe assumption to make about public school teachers these days.

[pabianice]

... ah, but DC, that Liberal Democratic Black Wonderland, is at the bottom bottom...

[Arkinsaw]

That means Arkansas is higher than 38th and beat Arizona and California, etc.

WILD. Its always good to see my home state as something other than 50th.

[milan]

Because you can read yourselves -- which is not a safe assumption to make about public school teachers these days.

You got that right on the head! My wife is in college to become a math teacher (after raising 3 kids). She tells me all the stories about the other prospective math teachers coming in and talking about how drunk they got the night before, etc. There are also some very intelligent and motivated students in the classes, but some dirt makes it through the pike.

I am not condeming college students who like to go out and have a good time. I am condemning those that allow it to interfere with their school work, which in turn affects how well they comprehend the material, which in turn shows up in some classroom near one of us.

[milan]

Georgia!!! I think I got you all beat, no?

[HungarianGypsy]

Before more money is thrown at this it would be nice if we knew HOW the money they already have is being spent. Money doesn't make people read. No matter how fancy the materials.

[Signalman]

Well, the world needs hamburger flippers too.

Bob

[BlazingArizona]

This is no mystery, eden though approximately 99.5% of our state government spending goes for education already: an increasing proportion of every school class is illegal aliens.

[Spiff]

Okay, homeschoolers. How is it that we can teach our kids to read for far less $$$ and do it well?

I don't know. Somehow we taught our homeschooled kids to read and to love reading. Heck, I have to fight with them at bedtime to put their books away, turn the lights off, and go to sleep. My nine-year-old is reading Ender's Game right now so I've cut him a little slack on the lights off thing. Eleven-year-old is reading as fast as she can to finish Harry Potter IV so that she can be ready for the big Harry Potter V release. Some of the books they read aren't the greatest classics of literature, but they love them and the books are far better than mindless TV.

[LibertarianLiz]

... ah, but DC, that Liberal Democratic Black Wonderland, is at the bottom bottom...

Not only Democratic, but I do believe they spend the most money per student of any state in the nation, at least the last I heard. Anyone out there with up-to-date info on that?