Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Myth of the Education Crisis
<skip>
A high school diploma is considered the minimal education needed for success in our country, and not enough students are receiving them. The high school graduation rate is abysmal, and we need to do something — anything — to shore it up.
Does that sound familiar? It should. We hear, over and over again, how a quarter of high school students drop out, and how this is a crisis of epic proportions.
No, it’s not good when a student drops out of high school without graduating — but that’s happening less than at any time in recorded history. Moreover, the students who drop out rarely stay dropped out — most go on to earn a G.E.D., the equivalent of a high school diploma.
In 2009, 86.7 percent of Americans over 25 years old held high school diplomas. That was the highest rate in U.S. history, up from 80.2 percent in 1997, up from 73.9 percent in 1985. Moreover, 88.6 percent of people aged 25 to 29 were high school graduates, also a record.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-myth-of-the-education-crisis.html#ixzz26LqFNNsh
100 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
EVER is big place with infinite possibilities and I've been in the Land of Rainbows and Gumdrops many times having great time. It's awesome there. 
I know how money speaks - who of us doesn't? - and I realize money is now speaking with you mouth. Money hates and fears Land of Rainbows and Gumdrops because it has no power there, so being the great fraudster and trickster it is, it lies and tricks us to believe that Land of Rainbows and Gumdrops don't exist.
people who live ruled by money are not happy and want change. Those of us who've already been in the other world can at least tell that it really is possible and exists in many forms. And not a bad place at all, full of unimaginable wonders as well as familiar daily chores, so no need to be afraid of change.
Why talk at all, speak from Maine to Florida, A Finnish hippie to American accountant? Because we are the real globalization movement and neoliberals are the anti-Earth movement, because we are all in the same boat, mothership Earth. And because it's good to live and meet new people and share experiences.
massive die-offs during the multiple collapses they experienced was not oil industry but the fact that people were and are still largely self-reliant. Half of all food produced in Russia comes from small home gardens in cities and countryside ("datchas"
and social networks of mutual aid remain very strong as social life has never been really monetized, people didn't stop working as doctors, teachers etc. when they received no money for their work. I live in country next to Russia and they are also very eager gatherers of berries and mushrooms and spent much of their free time in woods, picknicking and drinking (they are Russians!) and they can magically create a feast anytime, anywhere.
As Dmitry Orlov (http://cluborlov.blogspot.fi/) points out, Russians are much less alienated from basic necessities of life than for example Americans. And as we are talking about education, this is what we need to educate ourselves and our children, that economy does not mean moving money and letting money pull your strings, but first and foremost satisfying basic necessities of life. That real success is not measured by money, but beauty and dignity of your life.
and social networks of mutual aid remain very strong as social life has never been really monetized, people didn't stop working as doctors, teachers etc. when they received no money for their work. I live in country next to Russia and they are also very eager gatherers of berries and mushrooms and spent much of their free time in woods, picknicking and drinking (they are Russians!) and they can magically create a feast anytime, anywhere.
As Dmitry Orlov (http://cluborlov.blogspot.fi/) points out, Russians are much less alienated from basic necessities of life than for example Americans. And as we are talking about education, this is what we need to educate ourselves and our children, that economy does not mean moving money and letting money pull your strings, but first and foremost satisfying basic necessities of life. That real success is not measured by money, but beauty and dignity of your life.
Well done!
1) HS graduation requirements can be & are fudged, but there is a national measure of proficiency that has been in use since the early 70s, and it shows NO DECLINE -- and, in fact, improvement in all subject areas -- DESPITE the fact that the nation's schools are educating a higher percentage of school age children than in the past and a higher percentage of low-income/minority students than in the past.
These are national assessments, consistent across generations and localities.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what American students know and can do in core subjects...NAEP results are designed to provide data on student achievement in various subjects, and are released as The Nation’s Report Card. There are no results for individual students, classrooms, or schools. NAEP reports results for different demographic groups, including gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Assessments are given most frequently in mathematics, reading, science and writing.
NAEP is a trusted resource and has been providing valid and reliable data on student performance since 1969.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assessment_of_Educational_Progress
There has been improvement in all areas and all populations, including low-income and minority populations.
2) Those 'international comparisons' touted in the media are profoundly misleading.
a) The populations being compared aren't the same. For example, education in china is only mandatory (& funded) for 9 years v. 12 in the us. Only 80% of age-appropriate kids attend middle school & fewer than that go on to the chinese equivalent of high school (or voc school, another option). Because most chinese are still -- peasants.
Conequently, chinese students who take those 'international tests' are an elite bunch, particularly in the higher grades.
There are similar apples to oranges issues for most countries.
b) Regardless, when you look at the scores by income, the US leads the field when you compare non-poverty students.
However, since the US also leads the field in poverty in the developed world, & is on a par with some of the less developed world (21% of all american children live below the poverty line), scores overall are lowered when compared to most developed countries, which have poverty rates half to 1/3 of that.
The most certain predictor of below-average school achievement -- everywhere -- is coming from a family living below the poverty line.
c) The US position in international education rankings has not changed from when we were leading the world in science and industry. We were NEVER the leader (largely because of the poverty issue) in education achievement.
c) If you follow the international news, you'll find the other countries that we are supposedly so inferior to -- are hyping the same nonsense: "Oh, our students are failing! We must change our education system!"
These are national assessments, consistent across generations and localities.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what American students know and can do in core subjects...NAEP results are designed to provide data on student achievement in various subjects, and are released as The Nation’s Report Card. There are no results for individual students, classrooms, or schools. NAEP reports results for different demographic groups, including gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Assessments are given most frequently in mathematics, reading, science and writing.
NAEP is a trusted resource and has been providing valid and reliable data on student performance since 1969.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assessment_of_Educational_Progress
There has been improvement in all areas and all populations, including low-income and minority populations.
2) Those 'international comparisons' touted in the media are profoundly misleading.
a) The populations being compared aren't the same. For example, education in china is only mandatory (& funded) for 9 years v. 12 in the us. Only 80% of age-appropriate kids attend middle school & fewer than that go on to the chinese equivalent of high school (or voc school, another option). Because most chinese are still -- peasants.
Conequently, chinese students who take those 'international tests' are an elite bunch, particularly in the higher grades.
There are similar apples to oranges issues for most countries.
b) Regardless, when you look at the scores by income, the US leads the field when you compare non-poverty students.
However, since the US also leads the field in poverty in the developed world, & is on a par with some of the less developed world (21% of all american children live below the poverty line), scores overall are lowered when compared to most developed countries, which have poverty rates half to 1/3 of that.
The most certain predictor of below-average school achievement -- everywhere -- is coming from a family living below the poverty line.
c) The US position in international education rankings has not changed from when we were leading the world in science and industry. We were NEVER the leader (largely because of the poverty issue) in education achievement.
c) If you follow the international news, you'll find the other countries that we are supposedly so inferior to -- are hyping the same nonsense: "Oh, our students are failing! We must change our education system!"
