New results are in from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Results are mixed. You can look at state results here, and then gain more details at the offical NAEP site here. First, let's look at South Dakota. That's the good news. The NAEP tested reading and math skills in the both the 4th and 8th grades. In 4th grade reading 18 states did better than South Dakota, but at the 8th grade level only 8 states scored higher. In math, at the 4th grade level 13 states rated better, while at the 8th grade level only 3 scored better than South Dakota. That said, these rankings are based on what percentage of students showed at least "basic" skills in the discipline. It'd be nice to see more rating "proficient" or "advanced." Nationwide only about a third of the students fell into these latter two categories at any grade level and subject. I do want to point out that South Dakota scored quite well while spending $6,675 per pupil, while Washington, DC once again embarrassed itself while spending $11,968. Indeed, except for New York, no one spends more money than DC, but they easily attained the worst results. I also point out that South Dakota scored roughly the same as New York while spending almost half the money per pupil. I don't think that means South Dakota should pat itself on the back for spending so little on education, but it does show the correlation between spending and educational achievement is weak, at best.
The bad news is that nationwide roughly a third of all students are below basic in both subjects at both grade levels. The NAEP only tests public school students, and this shows that our public schools are failing us miserably. One-third is a very high minority of students who don't even have basic skills. I would argue that a system that fails so many students is a system that is not in need of reform. It's a system in need of liberation, by which I mean liberation of students from schools that deny them basic education. Let's take the dollars away from those schools, give the dollars to parents, and let them send their children to a school, public or private, that will benefit their children. And if parents want to use that money to home school, I am all for it granted they meet all the educational standards.
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