EDUCATION
A Study Guide For Fixing American Schools
America's education system is failing many of the nation's students. High school dropout rates are up; the national high school graduation rate today is only 70 percent. (That statistic is even worse for minorities, with only 50 percent of blacks and 53 percent of Hispanics earning a high school diploma.) Even those students who finish high school may not be adequately prepared to go on to college. A new report by the ACT student testing program found that only half of this year's high school graduates have the necessary reading skills to succeed in college; even fewer possess adequate math and science abilities. (To see how students in your state are doing, check out the state-by-state data here.) Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow admitted there was a problem, saying, “the fruits of strong economic growth are not spreading equally to less educated Americans.” The Center for American Progress recently teamed up with the Institute for America’s Future to lead the Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future task force to put together a new, progressive agenda for rebuilding America’s education system. The plan includes "universal preschool for children across the country...full-day kindergarten and year-round schools." Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a co-chairwoman of the task force, said "The world is changing much faster than our education system. We need to take it up a notch."
ENSURE QUALIFIED TEACHERS: As part of his No Child Left Behind program, President Bush promised that by the end of this coming school year, “every teacher of every major subject in every school will be highly qualified.” According to experts, however, that’s not the case. In fact, “in a nation of 3 million teachers, the definition of highly qualified varies widely and may not ensure quality at all." Today, "many states are declaring their teachers to be highly qualified without making sure those teachers know their subjects." Says former assistant education secretary Chester Finn Jr., "It's an unkept promise." The Education Trust, a group looking out for poor and minority children, argues that many state standards are "so lax as to include virtually every teacher in the state, regardless of actual demonstration of content knowledge." The Center for American Progress task force recommends implementing high-quality, employment based on-the-job training programs. At the same time, a “more rigorous accountability system must be developed,” including new, quantitative measures to ensure that teachers make the grade.
A LONGER SCHOOL DAY: One way to improve education: a longer school day. Jay Matthews, education reporter for the Washington Post, recently proposed a 9-hour day, opining, “I cannot think of a single instance in which the improvement in achievement was not tied, at least in part, to an increase in the amount of time students had to learn.” A longer school schedule, reports show, gives students extra time to learn math, science and English skills. It also helps “create a culture that’s purposeful and academic and emphasizes character values.”
A LONGER SCHOOL YEAR: Students in the United States are falling behind those in other countries, a serious handicap in the increasingly global economy. The Program for International Student Assessment ranks the United States 24th out of 29 industrial nations in math literacy; students also ranked 24th out of 29 in problem solving. One reason for this: the abbreviated school year in the United States. At 180 days, the U.S. has a shorter school year than all but two industrialized nations. Students in other countries spend an average of 193 days in school. South Korean students spend 225 days a year in school; in Japan, it’s 223. Even British schools keep students for 190 days a year. Those missing days add up quickly; over a 12-year academic career, the disparity means American students finish nearly a full school year behind their international counterparts. The task force recommends adding up to 30-days of schooling to the U.S. school year, especially in poorly performing districts.
America's education system is failing many of the nation's students. High school dropout rates are up; the national high school graduation rate today is only 70 percent. (That statistic is even worse for minorities, with only 50 percent of blacks and 53 percent of Hispanics earning a high school diploma.) Even those students who finish high school may not be adequately prepared to go on to college. A new report by the ACT student testing program found that only half of this year's high school graduates have the necessary reading skills to succeed in college; even fewer possess adequate math and science abilities. (To see how students in your state are doing, check out the state-by-state data here.) Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow admitted there was a problem, saying, “the fruits of strong economic growth are not spreading equally to less educated Americans.” The Center for American Progress recently teamed up with the Institute for America’s Future to lead the Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future task force to put together a new, progressive agenda for rebuilding America’s education system. The plan includes "universal preschool for children across the country...full-day kindergarten and year-round schools." Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a co-chairwoman of the task force, said "The world is changing much faster than our education system. We need to take it up a notch."
ENSURE QUALIFIED TEACHERS: As part of his No Child Left Behind program, President Bush promised that by the end of this coming school year, “every teacher of every major subject in every school will be highly qualified.” According to experts, however, that’s not the case. In fact, “in a nation of 3 million teachers, the definition of highly qualified varies widely and may not ensure quality at all." Today, "many states are declaring their teachers to be highly qualified without making sure those teachers know their subjects." Says former assistant education secretary Chester Finn Jr., "It's an unkept promise." The Education Trust, a group looking out for poor and minority children, argues that many state standards are "so lax as to include virtually every teacher in the state, regardless of actual demonstration of content knowledge." The Center for American Progress task force recommends implementing high-quality, employment based on-the-job training programs. At the same time, a “more rigorous accountability system must be developed,” including new, quantitative measures to ensure that teachers make the grade.
A LONGER SCHOOL DAY: One way to improve education: a longer school day. Jay Matthews, education reporter for the Washington Post, recently proposed a 9-hour day, opining, “I cannot think of a single instance in which the improvement in achievement was not tied, at least in part, to an increase in the amount of time students had to learn.” A longer school schedule, reports show, gives students extra time to learn math, science and English skills. It also helps “create a culture that’s purposeful and academic and emphasizes character values.”
A LONGER SCHOOL YEAR: Students in the United States are falling behind those in other countries, a serious handicap in the increasingly global economy. The Program for International Student Assessment ranks the United States 24th out of 29 industrial nations in math literacy; students also ranked 24th out of 29 in problem solving. One reason for this: the abbreviated school year in the United States. At 180 days, the U.S. has a shorter school year than all but two industrialized nations. Students in other countries spend an average of 193 days in school. South Korean students spend 225 days a year in school; in Japan, it’s 223. Even British schools keep students for 190 days a year. Those missing days add up quickly; over a 12-year academic career, the disparity means American students finish nearly a full school year behind their international counterparts. The task force recommends adding up to 30-days of schooling to the U.S. school year, especially in poorly performing districts.
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 12:04 PM
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