Education

Study More, Learn Less

February 23, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Two National Assessment of Educational Progress reports were released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education. One found that students who graduated in 2005 had racked up more high school credits, more college-preparatory classes, and markedly higher grade-point averages than students 15 years ago.

The other report showed that 12th grade reading scores on standardized tests have generally been dropping since 1992, which throws into doubt what students are actually learning in those ostensibly college-prep classes, but also whether two decades of education reform have actually made any significant headway.

Math scores were also low—fewer than one-quarter of the 12th graders tested scored in the “proficient” range—but couldn’t be compared to previous students because they took a different test.

Daria Hall, assistant director of the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Education Trust, called the transcript study clear evidence of grade inflation, as well as “course inflation"—classes that have “the right names” but a dumbed-down curriculum.

“What it suggests is that we are telling students that they’re being successful in these courses when, in fact, we’re not teaching them any more than they were learning in the past,” she said. “So we are, in effect, lying to these students.”

A version of this news article first appeared in the Web Watch blog.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read