TNPEC's Point Noted Blog

Focus: A question of quality schools

For full text article, Strong American Schools, click here: http://inmyshoes.org/SAS.AmDeserveLeadershipOnEd.Nov5_.2008.pdf

Too many graduates are unprepared for college, careers, and life.

?Not ready for college: More than one in three college students (34%) must take remedial math or
English courses to catch up on skills they should have learned in high school. In community colleges,
the remediation rate climbs to 43%.

?Not ready for careers: Nearly half of recent high school graduates who enter the workforce (46%) say
they are not prepared for the jobs they hope to get in the future. Employers agree, estimating that 45%
of recent high school graduates are not prepared with skills to advance beyond entry level jobs.

?Not ready for life: American students have a hard time solving real-life problems that call for practical
decision making and troubleshooting. Among 29 developed countries, the U.S. had the fourth-highest
percentage of very weak problem-solvers and the sixth-lowest percentage of strong problem-solvers.

Note: Article points out low reading and math standards in GA and compares 16 southern states included in Southern Regional Education Board report

Full text article, click here: http://inmyshoes.org/Report.pdf

A new Southern Regional Education Board report focuses on problems with middle schools and suggests that while Texas’ standards for middle school math are “about right,” its middle school reading standards are too low.

You’ll find a summary of the report in the press release below:

Too Many of Region’s Students Unprepared for High School; Achievement Not Rising Quickly Enough, New Report Finds

ATLANTA — Modest gains in reading and mathematics achievement on state assessments and low academic standards are signs that too many middle grades students are not well-prepared for high school courses, a major new report by the nonprofit Southern Regional Education Board shows.
…

Six SREB states appear to have set standards at about the right levels in reading: Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and Mississippi. South Carolina’s standards appear too high. Nine SREB states’ reading standards appeared too low: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

In eighth-grade math, eight states appear to have set standards about right: Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina and Texas. South Carolina’s appeared too high. Seven SREB states’ math standards appear too low: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.