School is about to start and the academic news isn’t good. Many students in this country can’t read, write, add or subtract.
The National Association of Educational Progress summarizes the bad news.
· A third of U.S. high-school seniors lack basic reading skills.
· Nearly half can’t do fundamental math.
· Some 45% of 12th graders perform “below basic” in math and only 32% meet standards in reading.
· Nearly 38% of 8th graders fail fundamental science tests.
A recent report from the Success Academy adds to the gloom.
· Over half of elementary schoolers fail standardized tests in math, reading or both.
· 62% of high school students can’t pass a Regents exam in math or reading.
In the U.S., test scores have been sliding since 2013, while students at comparable grade levels in Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, South Korea and many European countries have made steady improvements.
When students enter college, the problem often worsens. Last year the University of California, San Diego, made headlines when it reported an increase in freshmen who couldn’t do elementary math. Here’s an example.
“What is x in 7+2=6+x?” Here’s another: “Sarah had nine pennies and nine dimes. How many coins did she have in all?” To top things off, UC San Diego said only 39% of entering students could correctly round the number 374,518 to the nearest hundredth, a 3rd grade skill.
This is clearly troubling, and it begs the question of how you measure learning. Can grades show whether students are fit to enter college?
The answer is no, because grades are inflated. Nearly everyone gets an A, a problem endemic in the U.S. The president of Dartmouth College, Sian Bellock, wrote, “Grade inflation reduces a transcript’s significance. When an A is the default, it stops meaning ‘excellent.’ It just means, ‘I showed up.’”
Harvard recently decided enough was enough and capped the number of A’s awarded in undergraduate courses at 20%. But it put no limit on the number of A-minuses which, of course, became the new default.
And education, even if ineffective, is very expensive. Pass or fail, students are underwritten by American families who shell out big bucks. Taxes to fund K-12 schools are soaring, and a four-year college education now costs, on average, $50,000 a year. No wonder the value of a university diploma is being questioned like never before. Public confidence in higher education last year was 36%.
Another problem is the advent of artificial intelligence. It can help or hurt the struggling student and pave or hinder the way to meaningful employment. At the moment, AI is not helping. Instead, it’s stripping existing jobs and replacing the need for new ones. Unfortunately, the impact is most harmful on the least capable, the first to be let go, the last to be hired. If this trend continues, the long-term effect will be devastating.
Major corporations are already cutting an average of 8% of their workforce, a number expected to reach 12% by 2030. A recent Goldman Sachs study concluded that up to two-thirds of American jobs are exposed to some degree of AI takeover.
In summary:
· A frightening number of K-12 students are falling behind academically.
· Education standards in this country are slipping badly.
· The cost of higher education is skyrocketing, with little to show for it.
· AI is hindering employment of a huge number of new graduates.
U.S. education is facing a major challenge. Things could hardly be worse.
Dr. Dave Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Naples.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Things continue to worsen in the American classroom | Opinion
Reporting by Dr. Dave Trecker / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dr. Dave Trecker | USA TODAY Network
