Getting an ‘A’ on your report card doesn’t mean what it used to, a new report has found. USA Today has the story:
The good news on America’s report cards: More high school teachers are handing out A’s. But the bad news is that students aren’t necessarily learning more.
Recent findings show that the proportion of high school seniors graduating with an A average—that includes an A-minus or A-plus—has grown sharply over the past generation, even as average SAT scores have fallen.
In 1998, it was 38.9 percent. By last year, it had grown to 47 percent.
That’s right: Nearly half of America’s Class of 2016 are A students. Meanwhile, their average SAT score fell from 1,026 to 1,002 on a 1,600-point scale—suggesting that those A’s on report cards might be fool’s gold.
Reminder: The majority of students in the United States attend government schools. Government schools are producing students with inflated egos and empty minds. I’ll let you do the math, and you’ll earn an A if you determine government schools are the problem.
SOURCE: USA Today
IN THIS ISSUE:
- ONLINE: Thousands of students are taking advantage of a Missouri district’s online summer school offerings.
- NEW JERSEY: Charter school enrollment in New Jersey has more than doubled under Gov. Chris Christie’s leadership, NJSpotlight reports.
- ARIZONA: Anti-school choice activists are trying to repeal the expansion of Arizona’s ESA program, and they’ve hired professional signature gatherers to aid their efforts.
- MILWAUKEE: Dissatisfied parents in Milwaukee have taken matters into their own hands and are starting their own charter school.
Common Core and Curriculum Watch
- IDAHO: Idaho students are taking “dual-credit” courses colleges don’t actually accept.
- COMMON CORE: Shane Vander Hart writes on his blog Joy Pullmann’s book on Common Core has reminded him, “There is always hope and as parents, we are NEVER without options.”
- MAINE: Schools in Maine are going so far as to wash children’s clothes, according to the Bangor Daily News.
- RECESS: Recess in Florida doesn’t necessarily mean going outside.
- SACRAMENTO: Schools in Sacramento are going all the way to the Philippines to find teachers to fill their classrooms.
- ILLINOIS: The school year is not far off, but Illinois still has no school funding plan.
- GOOFS: Allowing kids to goof off is good for them,
Teresa Mull is a policy advisor for education and an editor at The Heartland Institute.
