Thursday, April 3, 2008

School kids still can't write

The latest measure of the nation's tax-funded educational institutions is out, and the results aren't especially encouraging. According to The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007, released by the U.S. Department of Education, there has been some very minor improvement in performance at the lowest level of writing achievement, but none at higher levels. The report defines reading achievement levels thusly:

Basic denotes partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade.

Proficient represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter.

Advanced represents superior performance.

Says the executive summary:

At grade 8 in 2007

  • The average writing score was 3 points higher than in 2002 and 6 points higher than in 1998.
  • The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 85 percent in 2002 to 88 percent and was also higher than in 1998.
  • The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.


At grade 12 in 2007

  • The average writing score was 5 points higher than in 2002 and 3 points higher than in 1998.
  • The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 74 percent in 2002 to 82 percent and was also higher than in 1998.
  • The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.


The percentage of students writing at a Proficient level rose from 31 percent to 33 percent of 8th graders, and remained at 24 percent of 12th graders.

The percentage of students performing at an Advanced level of writing remained at 2 percent of 8th graders from 2002 to 2007, and declined from 2 percent to 1 percent of 12th graders.



That's not much of a return for a significant and growing investment. Even as the states and federal government battle over the controversial mandates of No Child Left Behind and tax dollars flow into the public schools in a growing torrent, only one in four students in their last year of high school "have demonstrated competency" in written communication.



I say that tax dollars go to public schools "in a growing torrent" because it's true. As the Department of Education boasts, "On a per-pupil basis and adjusted for inflation, public school funding increased: 24 percent from 1991-92 through 2001-02 (the last year for which such data are available); 19 percent from 1996-97 through 2001-02; and 10 percent from 1998-99 through 2001-02." And that's only the tip of the iceberg -- real per-pupil spending almost tripled in this country from 1965 to 2002.



The Census Bureau uses slightly different figures, but still finds per-pupil spending growing, exceeding $10,000 in seven states and the District of Columbia.

And despite all of this money and repeated legislative crusades to make that money do something, most kids still aren't learning to communicate in writing at a credible level by the time they leave school.

Those high school graduates take their poor writing skills with them as hobbles into their adult lives. The College Board reports (PDF) that "a significant proportion of responding firms (about one-third) report that one-third or fewer of their employees, both current and new, possess the writing skills companies value." That's a big problem, because the same report found that "[m]ore than half (51 percent) of responding companies say that they frequently or almost always take writing into consideration when hiring salaried employees."

Education officials are spinning the results of the writing report to put as positive a cast on it as possible. They trumpet the slight improvements in overall writing skills while ignoring stagnant or declining performance at higher levels of achievement. The truth, though, is simple and unpleasant: the public schools still aren't teaching kids to write. After decades of failure despite increased attention and funding, there's no reason to believe the public schools are up to the task.

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2 Comments:

Blogger BobG said...

Maybe if they'd quit trying out every new-fangled teaching theory, and just teach the old fashioned way, it would be cheaper and more productive.

April 4, 2008 2:04 PM  
Blogger Artfldgr said...

then you wouldnt have change...

[sigh]

April 15, 2008 7:56 AM  

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