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Chapter 1: The Challenge
to Educate Everyone
The Problem
A National Priority
Student
Achievement
The Research Question
The Study
Chapter 2: A Review of
Literature
Chapter 3: Methods
Chapter 4: The Results
Chapter 5: Discussion
References
Appendixes
Biography
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Student Achievement: Good
News & Bad News
Recently there has been some indication that the focus on raising
standards and accountability has had a positive impact on student
achievement. The Maine Department of Education reports several ways
Maine’s students outperform students in other states. Maine eighth
graders, for example, placed first in the nation in Reading and Science
on the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test
results (Maine Department of Education, 1999).
Student performance on the NAEP long-term trend assessments has
improved since the early 1980s in mathematics and science, but not
in reading. In addition, student performance on the main NAEP
assessments has shown some improvements in mathematics and reading
at some grade levels and no declines. These assessments are
specifically designed to measure a broader range of higher-order
thinking skills and capabilities for using knowledge than are the
trend assessments. Between 1990 and 1996, the percentage of
students performing above the basic level of proficiency in
mathematics has increased. At least two-thirds of 31 states
participating in these mathematics assessments also showed
improvements in student proficiency scores, and none had declining
scores. In contrast, little change has occurred since the early
1970s in reading. (National Center for Educational Statistics,
1999)
Despite these bits of good news, there are still many indicators
that students are not achieving to desired levels. Maine reports, for
example, "Although Maine students score at or near the top of the
nation in mathematics, reading, and science, the statistics are
deceiving—1 out of 4 Maine students have not acquired a level of
literacy that is acceptable by most standards" (Maine Department
of Education, 1999).
Maine’s concerns are shared by others. The Carnegie Council on
Adolescent Development reports that there is clear evidence that young
people are at risk educationally (1996, p. 11):
- The average proficiency in science, mathematics, and writing
among thirteen-year-olds was slightly higher in 1992 than it was
in the 1970s. However, these achievements have not improved enough
to keep pace with the higher level of skills required in a global
economy.
- Only 28 percent of eighth graders scored at or above the
proficiency level in reading in 1994. Two percent read at or above
an advanced level.
- In 1990, 7 percent of the eighth-grade class of 1988 (most of
whom were then fifteen and sixteen years old) were dropouts. By
their senior year (1992), 12 percent of this class were dropouts.
Dropout rates vary by students’ race/ethnicity: white (9.4);
black (14.5); Hispanic (18.3); Asian/Pacific Islanders (7.0); and
American Indian (25.4)
The 1999 Conditions of Education Report points to similar findings:
In 1996, average science achievement was higher at all three
age levels than in 1982. However, due to declining science scores
in the 1970s, scores for 13-year-olds were about the same in 1996
as in 1970 and, for 17-year-olds, were lower in 1996 than in 1970.
For 9-year-olds, science achievement was higher in 1996 than in
1970….
Average writing proficiency scores remained relatively stable
for 4th-grade students between 1984 and 1996. In contrast, scores
for 8th-grade students declined between 1984 and 1990, increased
in 1992, and then dropped back to their original level. The
average writing scale score for 11th-grade students was slightly
lower in 1996 than in 1984. (National Center for Education
Statistics, 1999)
The Southern Regional Education Board’s Middle Grades Education
Initiative warns:
Eighth grade performance indicators from the National
Assessment of Educational Progress reveal a discouraging pattern
of middle grades underachievement nationwide. They describe
students who:
- Can do arithmetic but do not understand and cannot apply
concepts such as number relationships expressed as ratios or
percentages to problems that need several steps to solve;
- Can memorize facts and answer specific science questions but
cannot apply the knowledge nor understand the reasoning behind
scientific concepts; and
- Have only some of the reading skills necessary to be successful
in grade level work.
To be literate does not mean that we all must be physicists,
astronomers, mathematicians or literary critics. It does mean that
we should be able to read an article about business or science,
understand it, and make good accurate decisions about health and
economic issues in our daily lives (Southern Regional Education
Board, 1998, p. 1).
Even President Clinton presents this warning in his National
Standards of Academic Excellence (1997):
Student achievement is not improving fast enough. Across our
nation—in our cities, suburbs, and rural communities alike—far
too many students are still not meeting the standards that will
prepare them for the challenges of today and tomorrow. What the
top 20 percent of our students typically learn in math in the 8th
grade is learned by most students in Japan in the 7th grade. And
while today America's 4th graders read as well as ever on average,
40 percent cannot read as well as they should to hold a solid job
in tomorrow's economy.
So at the turn of the 21st Century the problem is really
no different than it was at the turn of the 20th Century:
How do America’s public schools provide a quality education to all
the children of all the people?
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