Student test scores lower than whale poop

Well, folks, the Nation's Report Card just flunked America’s kids yet again. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the academic yardstick we've been using for decades to measure how our students stack up, dropped its latest bombshell Tuesday, and it's a doozy. 

Math and reading scores for 12th-graders have hit rock bottom, plumbing new depths of educational despair. And no, this isn’t some post-COVID hangover; the slide started years before the WuFlu turned classrooms into Zoom nightmares.

"Scores for 12th-graders in math and reading continued their years-long slide, reaching new lows on national tests, new data released Tuesday shows." 

Yes, the numbers are uglier than a public school lunch menu. The decline was already in motion pre-pandemic, but policymakers were crossing their fingers for a 2024 rebound. Spoiler alert: they got a face full of failure instead. "Average scores fell to their lowest levels since the current versions of these tests were first administered in both math and reading, as did scores for the lowest-performing students."

The NAEP sorts kids into three buckets: proficient, basic, and below basic. Guess which one's getting crowded? "The number of students scoring below basic has increased," and it isn't just a blip. In reading, the 2024 average score was the lowest since the test kicked off in 1992. A whopping "32 percent of high school seniors scored below 'basic,'" which means they can't even pick out details in a text to figure out what it's saying. 

Math was even worse. The average score is the lowest since 2005, with "45% of high school seniors" flunking the "basic" mark, highest percentage in two decades. Only 33% are ready for college-level math, down from 37% in 2019. But I bet students understand terms about what a gender-fluid, two-spirited, non-binary person is.

Here’s the kicker: the bright kids at the top? Untouched. "Students at the very top have not seen their scores decline at all but students near the bottom have seen their scores collapse." For a decade, the floor's been caving in on low performers, while the 90th-percentile kids keep sipping their intellectual lattes, unfazed. Lesley Muldoon, NAEP's head honcho, put it bluntly: "The test scores show more students are not reaching what would be considered ‘basic’ achievement across subject areas." She insists "proficient" isn't an impossible bar, but when nearly half your seniors can't hit "basic" in math, maybe it's time to rethink what's "reasonable."

By the way, it isn't just high schoolers. Eighth-grade science scores tanked too, with "38 percent of students scoring below the basic level, compared with 33 percent in 2019." At this rate, we'll be lucky if these kids can spell "science" by graduation.

So, what's the culprit? Remote learning during the pandemic sure didn't help, especially for the kids already scraping the bottom. But this nosedive started five or six years before COVID. Enter the usual suspect: screens. 

D. Graham Burnett, a Princeton science historian, nailed it: "With the ubiquity of screens, it seems inevitable that in the future, fewer people will engage with lengthy texts." He's hopeful the "cultural inheritance" of books can survive through speech or memorization, but good luck convincing a TikTok-addled teen to memorize anything longer than a 15-second dance routine.

The comments section on this story is a goldmine of real talk. A high school teacher with 25 years in the trenches laid it bare: "This is not entirely pandemic related. Educators have been witnessing a massive academic decay over the past 10-15 years. This slide in academic and emotional maturity correlates to the gaining impacts and interactions with cell phone technologies and streaming tv services." Kids aren't curious anymore, he says. They don't read, don't see adults reading (actual books, not screens), and are "widely ill-informed" unless a TikTok influencer spoon-feeds them. They can't sit still, crave constant validation, and "crumble or walk away at the slightest hint of friction or difficulties." He said, "The focus required to allow an author to unfold a narrative is an endangered quality."

A recent high school grad chimed in, echoing the same grim truth: "We are so susceptible to whatever is said on TikTok. For some reason, people will believe anything said with enough conviction." 

Motivation is in the gutter too. Why bother when college grads are slinging burgers under a mountain of debt? Add in "lack of focus" (blame the screen-fried brains and questionable ADHD diagnoses) and a system that passes kids who do zilch. "I remember in my geometry class a boy never did a single assignment," the grad wrote. "He only took the tests and routinely did poorly. However, his parents caused a fuss and he was given a high enough grade to move onto the next class." 

Look, screens and social media aren't the devil for everyone; top students seem to handle them fine. But for the kids at the bottom, swapping math homework for hours of TikTok doom-scrolling is a one-way ticket to academic oblivion. Maybe it's time we admit that "scrolling" isn't a subject, and "basic" shouldn't be a pipe dream.

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President Trump to sign EO to dismantle the Dept. of Education

While COVID basically ended the education of students for several years so that teachers could catch a break from teaching, TRUMP is expected to sign an executive order ending the Department of Education that supported the teachers over the kids. This is a move that will fulfill one of his main promises made on the campaign trail.

A summary of the order in USA Today shows that it directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.”

But make no. mistake; the order clearly directs the “uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

McMahon was confirmed as Education Secretary earlier this month, but Trump previously said he hoped she would put herself “out of a job.” The good news is she doesn't need the money.

A number of Republican governors, advocates for parental rights in education, and others are expected to be at the signing on Thursday. Trump's promise to close the DoE was met with cheers when he campaigned on the issue.

“I say it all the time, I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” Trump said at a September rally in Wisconsin. “We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing.”

No longer will children face learning loss over the cowardice of the DoE nor will gender identity changes and Critical Race Theory be pushed into their developing minds. Parents will no longer be kept in the dark about their child's education.

The department has already thus far eliminated about half its staff and recently terminated more than $600,000,000 in grants for training teachers in "divisive ideologies" such as anti-racism, social justice activism, and hiring teachers based on race rather than merit.

What a concept.

The order “will empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students,” Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a statement, adding that recent test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam “reveal a national crisis ‒ our children are falling behind.”

The U.S. ranked 34th in mathematics with an average score of 465 (on a scale from 0 to 1,000), which is below the OECD average of 472. Top performers like Singapore (575), Hong Kong (540), and Japan (536) significantly outpace the U.S., representing a gap of roughly two to three years of schooling. Notably, about 30% of U.S. students scored below Level 2, considered the baseline for basic proficiency, compared to just 8% in Singapore.

Reading scores placed our students in 12th position, somewhat better than math, but not so great when it comes to "bang of our buck" spent on American education.

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President Jimmy Carter established the useless Department of Education in 1979, and while it would require an act of Congress to totally eliminate it, Trump's executive order is slated to dismantle the department for now.

Trump’s order will certainly face legal challenges from critics like teachers’ unions, who are more concerned about themselves rather than the children, and have been clear that they want the DoE to stay so they can play at being educators of the American young.

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NY lowers math and reading standards helping to make illiteracy the new normal

If you want to make the crime stats reflect a reduction in crime, the easiest way to do that is to decriminalize crime, at least the kinds of crime you can get away with saying is not a felony, but merely a misdemeanor. If you want to make it seem as if teachers are doing their job of teaching math and reading skills, just lower the bar and everybody passes.

Basically, it's the New York state of mind to think that their failing schools will look as if the children are being educated once proficiency is measured by showing some effort rather than ability. 

The state has decided to permanently lower the math and reading proficiency standards because there has been a dramatic fall in test scores since the COVID lockdowns as a result from the needless and useless way the school system in the state handled the situation. 

So the state tried a tactic designed to assuage the concerns of honest educators. A committee has reported that student performance has been permanently damaged and that lower competence has become “the new normal.” Instead of trying to improve on the losses incurred by the lockdowns, the so called educators just lowered the standards.

New York will make it easier for students to reach “proficiency” on state math and English language arts tests, calling last year’s lower scores the “new normal.”

Imagine if the state lowered the standard requirements of the motor vehicle driving test scores. If you can start the car and remember to check your mirrors before pulling out, you pass. Then why not get rid of speed limits too?

A scoring committee that reports to the Board of Regents said Monday that they must take into account the results of last year’s tests for students in grades three through eight. Some schools posted shocking results — in Schenectady, no eighth grader who took the math test scored as proficient. And the scores for the third through eighth grade tests throughout the state were much lower in 2022 than in 2019, a result no doubt of the absence of in-person learning during the first year and beyond of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rather than trying to get their scores higher, just lower the passing grade to 'mildly retarded.' This is not doing the children any favors, although I'm sure they would disagree.

First the kids were betrayed by the pandemic, now they're betrayed by the state's refusal to help them regain the education they lost.

But that's okay--with the gay porn books found in many school libraries, they don't need to know how to read at a higher level. 

It's cultural Marxism at its finest.

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Leftist librarian outed as a flaming hypocrite

Leftist: Soeiro taking issue with Dr. Seuss books

First Lady Melania Trump continued the tradition of former First Ladies in donating 10 books to top performing schools in every state during National Read a Book Week.

However, in the super-liberal state of Massachusetts, a leftist librarian and immense hypocrite Liz Phipps Soeiro of the Cambridge School, took it upon herself to reject the books intended for the children, not the library. She claimed the books [like all Republicans] are racist.

Some of the "racist" books included: The Cool White Cat in the Hat, Jews Don't Eat Green Eggs and Ham, and  Oh, the Places You'll Go If You're White. 

Or not.

Democrat privilege

Melania's predecessor, Michelle Obama, had also carried on the tradition of sending books to kids across the nation. In fact, Obama sent Dr. Seuss books and even did some readings surrounded by Dr. Seuss characters made famous by the late children's author. 

But Soeiro had nothing to say to or about Ms. Obama at the time. And ironically, Phipps Soeiro even dressed the part of the Cat in the Hat because she is a hypocrite and she sucks socks that smell.

"To turn the gesture of sending young students some books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere," Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement to USA TODAY on Friday.

What did Phipps Soeiro say to Melania Trump?

In an open letter [to get publicity, no doubt] posted on a book blog, Phipps Soeiro said that while she was grateful for the books, she would not accept them because her Boston-area liberal school doesn't lack for resources and because she takes issue with "racist" imagery in some of the author's books.

As mentioned, the books were not donated to the library she runs but to children in the school and she apparently has taken it upon herself to speak for them, as liberals tend to believe they speak for the entire country.

Trump won--so they don't.

A racist author festival

The leftist librarian also criticized the Trump administration's policies on funding schools and libraries, and said Trump should consult the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, for a list of diverse books.

Perhaps she should consult a therapist because like her idol, Hillary Clinton, she obviously can't get over the fact that Trump won the election. However, I'm certain Phipps Soeiro read "What Happened" by Clinton, and has cried long and hard at night as she lied in bed to herself.

 She also called out Trumps education secretary. "Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos?"

Has Phipps Soeiro done volunteer work in poorer schools and communities?

Melania teaches a racist hand gesture
to an unsuspecting child

Perhaps she has, but I suspect otherwise--leftists believe they own the moral high ground, not by actually being moral, but by labeling conservatives as racists, while they think it's okay to kill unborn babies.

Her screed prompted her school district to distance itself from her, saying that she has the right to her opinion but it isn't their official position.

Phipps Soeiro has not been disciplined nor do I expect her to be--we're talking about Massachusetts, not Arkansas.

Let's be serious: nothing the Trump administration does will ever be considered okay by the left. Everything will be labeled racist, selfish, elitist or foolish--even when Trump's predecessor said or did the same exact thing.

Taking the leftist seriously is an indication of an underlying mental illness.


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Some teachers want to ban homework

A growing number of elementary schools and individual teachers throughout the country have a solution to America's downward academic spiral: give the kids more free time by taking away their homework. When the school bell rings to end the day, it's time to play, have more family time, and get more sleep.

A report by Education by the Numbers ranks the United States below the top 25 countries in math and below the top 15 in reading. Some on the left may blame the rankings on our diverse population in poverty, but these numbers took that into account.

Our top students, those in the 90th percentile score an average of 600 in math. In Shanghai, the average student scores an average of 613.

Asia now dominates the top 10 spots in math, reading and science. Asian students get lots of homework. They are also taught to treat their teachers with the utmost respect. Politics doesn't enter the classroom.

Steven Geis, president of the National Elementary School Principals' Association said that parents say their kids' time is monopolized by homework. 

Teachers all over the US are revising their policies to be as effective as possible. At Orchard School in South Burlington, VT Geis has seen a serious spike in anxiety among students recently. They opted to ban homework this school year partially based on the book "The Homework Myth," by Alfie Kohn. He says that homework is all pain and no gain.

Kohn said that "homework might be the greatest extinguisher of curiosity ever invented."

I believe Asian parents and teachers would disagree. Harris Cooper, a professor at Duke University, who has studied the effects of homework for 30 years disagrees. 

Cooper believes all kids should do homework but the type of homework can differ depending upon their developmental level. 

It's kind of like giving your child a 'time out'-- you give him or her one minute for every year of their age, not a half-hour, unless it's your spouse. Homework needs to take age and development into consideration.

Cooper's research found that homework is a lot more effective for middle and high school students than the little urchins. "Homework is like medicine--if you take too little, it does nothing; if you take too much, it can kill you," Cooper told the AP.

He explained that homework teaches kids to learn outside the classroom, which then turns them into lifelong learners while improving independence and time management.

One problem, according to Cooper, is that the resistance to homework comes from the fact that teachers often assign too much and they need to strike a balance between encouraging students to learn outside of school and allow them to pursue other activities.

But in Asia, particularly India, there is an inordinate number of suicides over academic achievement. In 2013 alone, 2471 suicides were attributed to "failure in examination," mostly among people ages 16 - 18. 

So while Asian students may do great academically, they may be doing it at the expense of their mental health, at least to some degree. They may be pushed too hard by teachers and parents who may have exaggerated expectations.

Thus, homework and play needs to be balanced--because play is a young child's work and homework can teach an older child habits that will help them in later life.

Kohn make a decent point, but he's only partially correct.


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