Private Tutor for Math & Science Success

American 17-year-olds aren’t performing any better in reading and math than their bell-bottom-clad counterparts in the early 1970s. That’s one conclusion from the latest round of a national test tracking long-term educational trends.

On the positive side, the test shows that younger students – 9- and 13-year-olds – are making significant gains. In addition, racial differences in scores have narrowed for all three age groups over the past 30-plus years.

But overall, the mixed results parallel other indicators of how challenging it is to raise academic achievement.

The flat-line trend for 17-year-olds should sound an alarm, say advocates of high school reform. “If high schools were cellphones, they’d be considered in a dead zone,” says Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington advocacy group. “We’ve got to finally start addressing high schools in the same way that we addressed elementary schools…. This is the jumping-off place for college or the modern workplace, and our kids unfortunately are performing at [1970s] levels.”

More than 26,000 students took the tests for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – a project overseen by the research wing of the US Department of Education. The results were released Tuesday. As part of the NAEP project, reading scores have been tracked since 1971 and math since 1973.

Click here for the rest of the story

It is very disturbing that the critical need to invest in education to prepare our students for the challenges of the 21st-century economy, which was top of mind six months ago, has now been overshadowed by the current financial crisis. There is no doubt that local and state government incomes are impacted by this deep recession. However, in many ways, the change in our economy warrants even more attention to the importance of investment in our future through support for education.

Since the start of this new century, report after report has stressed the importance of enhancing education in the United States. Each report issues the call: Students must be prepared for the knowledge-based economy. Students must be equipped with the capacity to think creatively and problem solve, communicate effectively, work collaboratively and know how and where to get information to answer questions. Read the rest of this entry »