Just 37 percent of U.S. High School Seniors Are College Ready, National Report Card Shows

[Purveyor]

Source: Boston Globe

By Allison Pohle 1:36 PM

High school graduation rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high, but the outlook isn’t great for high school seniors once they leave the classroom. The National Assessment Governing Board’s “Nation’s Report Card,” released Wednesday, found that high school seniors have shown no improvement in reading skills, and their math performance has slipped since the last time the test was given in 2013.

In even more grim news, the 2015 test results suggest that only 37 percent of seniors are academically prepared for college math and reading course­work.

“The governing board is pleased that graduation rates are increasing across the country, but at the same time not pleased that we’re not making the academic progress that we need to so there’s greater preparedness for post-secondary, for work, for military participation,” said Bill Bushaw, the board’s executive director.

The report card, known more formally as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is considered a more reliable measure of student performance over time. Unlike state tests, which have fluctuated because of the Common Core, the federally funded report card’s consistent measurements can be traced back to 2005 for math and to 1993 for reading. This year’s test results are based on a nationally representative sample of thousands of 12th-grade students from 740 schools, both public and private.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/education/2016/04/27/just-37-percent-u-s-high-school-seniors-college-ready-nation

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Is not this about the same

percentage of Graduates for some decades now? Is it me or have College Entrance Requirements been dumbed down through the years?

[llmart]

8. The only requirement nowadays for college entry is money.

If you have the money they'll take you. We're not really very picky any more. Just bring in the dough to pay all those administrators the big bucks even though they contribute next-to-nothing to the actual running of the college other than glad handing to get more money. Then keep creating new positions at the top of the ladder so you can reward your buddies by hiring them. Yep, it's not much better than the corporate world these days.

[Wellstone ruled]

15. Thanks for thr

explanation. When I went to College,you had to place in the top 13% of your class and still do the entrance exam and score above 90%.

[houston16revival]

2. Am I surprised?

I see Ivy League graduates on TV who can't use language properly.

"It's" and "Its" have become synonymous

People can no longer add and subtract in their heads

It takes some cashiers 1.5 minutes to count out 54 cents

and heaven help you if you give them 87 cents in small change

They are in over their heads

Very sad, and the nation and taxpayers have spent a bundle on educating

But the school superintendents are paid $200K and travel to conferences
twice a month, textbook publishers push the latest editions to line their pockets

[maxsolomon]

3. compared to what? what % need to be "College-Ready"?

what % of High Schoolers go on to college nowadays? 2 out of 5? 3 out of 5?

you don't need to be "college-ready" to go into the military or the job market. you need to graduate.

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. I agree

About 68% enroll in college following high school, but less than half get a 4 year degree (30%). Another 17% get a 2 year degree of some kind. So I wonder what the criteria is for being "college ready" is. They're getting admitted somewhere.

I have a masters degree and I was a high school teacher for 9 years, so I'm certainly pro-college. There are plenty of college educated folks like myself who are unemployed and there are plenty of goid paying trades that can be learned in less than 2 years.

[YOHABLO]

4. Great news for Junior Colleges and Remedial Courses .. cheaper too.

[jtuck004]

9. Not as "cheap" as doing it in the first place. It will never happen for most if we don't make sure

it happens when it is supposed to, regardless of the barriers.

Some things, tied to nutrition and learning, can never be overcome once lost, because there are certain windows of development in animals. Once gone, it's gone for good. About 30% of draftees in the new draft of WWII were rejected, primarily the results of malnutrition, and many of those lost real opportunity in life and education because of it. That costs us all. Today we have scores of millions who will never see a job that lets them have the life we have now, and the future is going to be much harder and more dangerous for them because of this.

We all pay the extra costs of our decision making on this, and our lack of investment when it had to happen. People in the future will pay even more.

[tom_kelly]

5. Jeb! has succeeded! n/t

[bluedigger]

6. What's even weirder is that 70% of grades at Yale are "A"s.

Doesn't add up, does it?

[a la izquierda]

10. Most of my students...

Cannot compose a sentence that's grammatically correct. They think their opinions are fact.
This includes some of my graduate students.

And I teach at a large state university.

[MisterP]

11. that's because grad students can marshal evidence just right and MAKE their beliefs fact XD

[jwirr]

12. I would guess that teaching for the test is not working.

Especially when going to college is about more than taking tests. Supposedly college is about creative thinking.

[proverbialwisdom]

13. Critical thinking. (nt)

[jwirr]

14. Yes, years ago when I was in college we were not even

talking about this because we were doing it. Thanks for the correction.