Less Than 40% of H.S. Seniors Academically Prepared For College

By Barbara Hollingsworth

Less than 40 percent of high school seniors in America have sufficient academic skills in math and reading to pass entry-level college courses, according to a groundbreaking report released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics.

“Thirty-nine percent of 12th-grade students have the mathematics skills and 38 percent the reading skills needed for entry-level college courses,” stated the report, which was the first to compare student scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to college course requirements.

NAEP is often called “The Nation’s Report Card” because it is the largest standardized test administered nationwide.

Although the report noted that “twelfth-graders' performance in mathematics and reading did not change significantly from 2009 to 2013,” only 39 percent scored 163 or above on the 300-point mathematics assessment, and only 38 percent scored 302 or above on the 500-point reading assessment…..To Read More…..

My Take – Of course the promoters of Common Core will use this as a justification for more government interference in public education.  One of my regular readers is a retired scientist – from Texas - who sends me stuff everyday and mush of it gets posted.  He sent a joke to me that goes like this.

Copper Wire Discovered

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year outside of New York City, New York scientists found traces of copper cable dating back 100 years. They came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a Los Angeles, California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet somewhere just outside Oceanside. Shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: "California archaeologists report a finding of 200 year old copper cable, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.

One week later, a local newspaper in Houston, Texas reported the following: "After digging down about 30 feet deep in his pasture near the community of Sugar Land. Bubba, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Texas had already gone wireless….Just makes a person proud to be from Texas.

So what’s the point of this story?   Although none of this happened it does demonstrate how people can see all the same facts and come to different conclusions.  Let’s look at this from a different perspective – an historical one!  Before the federal government got involved in public education did these problems exist?  To a large extent ----NO!  So, if this occurred after federal interference why would we think more federal interference would make it better?