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Wait, is this the year that education rises to the top of the national agenda? Don’t count on it. For the most part, America has terrific colleges but getting there is a bit of an adventure.
The latest evidence - you guessed it - those pesky SAT scores.
- The average math score dropped from 518 in 2006 to 515 in 2007
- Critical reading dropped from 503 in 2006 to 502 in 2007
- Writing scores fell from 497 in 2006 to 494 in 2007
For its part, the College Board, which administers the SAT to American high school seniors, insists that the decline wasn’t “statistically significant.”
Perhaps, but the needle isn’t pointed in the right direction either.
Are American students getting dumber or are schools, teachers or parents getting worse? My take is none of the above. The curriculum isn’t as exacting as what we see in Europe and Asia and, worst of all, we underfund school programs. Raising teacher pay should yield long-term dividends.
In other words, it’s our own damn fault for electing politicians with other priorities.
And yet, money doesn’t solve everything. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The test takers reported as being among the wealthiest [US$100,000+] were one of the groups that saw the biggest declines.” On the other hand, students with family incomes of $10,000-$20,000 were the only group that saw an increase in all three test areas.
No doubt, the wealthiest can switch their children to private schools or hire tutors. But as a matter of national policy does it make sense to overlook or under-invest in our best & brightest? Time magazine charges that we are “Failing our Geniuses.” As evidence, there’s a high college dropout rate among the top five percent of high-school grads according to one study cited by Time. It gets worse.
Are we doing enough to nurture and prepare students to compete in the global economy?
