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Sep

27

No gains in reading as Bush’s Reading First cronies profit


The National Assessment of Educational Progress results for the 2007 Nation’s Report Card, while good for Ohio in general (though limited to the extent that they’re meaningful since they’re intended to help us compare the U.S. to other countries, thank you Janet Okoben of the Plain Dealer for explaining that this morning on WCPN – I didn’t really realize that), showed problems with gaining achievement in reading. From the NAEP executive summary for reading:

The average reading score for eighth-graders was up 1 point since 2005 and 3 points since 1992; however, the trend of increasing scores was not consistent over all assessment years. In comparison to both 1992 and 2005, the percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased, but there was no significant change in the percentage of students at or above the Proficient level.

Likewise, as Stateline reports, the very important effort to close the so-called achievement gap between white and minority students isn’t getting the gains desired.

One of No Child Left Behind’s main goals is to close the achievement gap between white and minority students. On that, results were mixed. Scores for most ethnics groups have increased since 1992. But since the last NAEP test in 2005, the gap between white and black students narrowed only slightly, while the gap between white and Hispanic students was unchanged. The gaps also remain substantial, about 26 points in reading.

So, as I heard the reviews of the reading stats, all I could think about was this post last February and this post last April about the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General saying, in this report, that yes, the DOE had improperly tried to get schools to choose from only certain Reading First curriculums, and those were sold by a company operated by a major Bush donor.

Sigh.

Where’s that investigation these days?

I’m not sure, but I’m looking into it and I’ll let you know what I learn.

An appalling side note, especially given the IG’s report and the not impressive NAEP reading results is that the federal government wants to replicate Reading First for math.

Run away, as fast as you can.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:25 pm September 27th, 2007 in Education, Government 

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