Do Schools Challenge Our Students?

Posted by on July 30, 2012

From the mouths of babes

A recent examination by the Center for American Progress (CAP) of the student-questionnaire portion of the NAEP finds many students in elementary and high schools around the country are not being challenged academically. For instance, 37 percent of fourth-graders say their math work is too easy. More than a third of high-school seniors report they hardly ever write about what they read in class, and nearly a third of eighth-graders report reading fewer than five pages a day either in school or for homework. In a global economy, where the mastery of science is crucial, 72 percent of eighth-grade science students say they aren’t taught engineering and technology. The CAP found 51 percent of eighth-grade civics students and 57 percent of eighth-grade history students say their work is often or always too easy. Twenty-one percent of 12th-graders say their math work is often or always too easy, and 56 percent and 55 percent respectively find their civics and history work often or always too easy. Based on these and other findings, the CAP recommends policymakers continue to push for higher, more challenging standards. Student surveys provide important insights into teacher effectiveness, so the surveys themselves must continue to be developed and implemented.

Read more: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/07/state_of_education.html