In an Investors Business Daily op ed, the president of the Education Consumers Foundation maintains that Americans are largely kept in the dark about the performance of their local schools. Without a convenient and understandable scoreboard, there…… Read More
For nearly a decade, states have sought to have all high school graduates meet a standard of “prepared for college or the workplace.” According to ACT’s most recent report, only 27% meet that standard. The ACT Profile Reports provide valuable information about the performance of each state’s 2017 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors. The reports focus on student performance, student access, course selection, course rigor, college readiness, student awareness, and articulation to higher education. … Read More
Readiness to Graduate from High School is closely linked to 8th grade readiness for high school and readiness for the 8th grade is substantially predictable from reading and math skills at grade 4. Reading is especially important because it is the key to everything else. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress only 34% of 4th grade students are proficient in reading–it is a major bottleneck that stunts the educational progress of millions of students. An estimated 70% of … Read More
Accelerated early reading instruction has opened the door to educational success in real school districts.For decades, educators have believed that low 3rd grade reading skills were an inevitable consequence of poverty and an insurmountable barrier to educational excellence for most children. Today, school districts like Tazewell, VA and others in Southeastern KY and Southwestern VA have found a way to increase the number of proficient readers from well under 50% to over 70% with the intensive, systematic reading … Read More
Local school boards may be the key to reversing American educational and economic decline. Educators blame school outcomes on poverty but public schools were created to overcome poverty and they were remarkably successful in doing…… Read More
The popular view is that the Newark reforms failed. The New Jersey Department of Education data says otherwise. Charter schools excelled and the projected reduction in dropouts and unprepared graduates district-wide will benefit taxpayers for years to come. June 17, 2014 – Print School districts and their boards often face seemingly insurmountable opposition to changes that would beneficial to students. Changes that would be upsetting to the established bureaucratic and institutional order are especially challenging, yet there are examples … Read More