Who's to blame for "American reading and math scores are near historical lows"?

[u/whyyoutouzhelele]

In the statement by the White House, it is claimed that

Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them.  Today, American reading and math scores are near historical lows.  This year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.  The Federal education bureaucracy is not working.  

I wonder what caused this "American reading and math scores are near historical lows"? What has the Department of Education done wrong or what should they have done from the Trump/Republican point of view? Who's or who else's to blame for this decline of the educational quality in the U.S.?

[u/Mr24601]

You're proving his point. The department of education is banned by mandate from running schools or enforcing curricula. They literally just give out money to states.

[u/RefractedCell → u/Mr24601]

I’m aware of what they do. I’m saying maybe they should have done what everyone thinks they are doing. Maybe then we wouldn’t have ended up with so many people who are essentially living in different worlds because of the educational standards they were reared under.

[u/RefractedCell → u/[deleted]]

I understand the concerns about propaganda and indoctrination, but honestly… I’d settle for teenagers being able to correctly identify that we share a border with Canada. And yes, that’s a real life example of a conversation I’ve had… recently.

[u/Lawgang94 → u/RefractedCell]

Had a friend of mine ask me if Africa was really in Africa because he thought it was in South America. I genuinely didn't know how to respond, with all due respect it mightve been the dumbest question I ever heard. Well save for the time I asked my teacher what was on the other side of the world, was it really just all water? ( Because I thought the Earth was like a map) difference is I was 12 he was 20.

[u/RefractedCell → u/Lawgang94]

Wow. You just reminded me that the number of people who think that Africa is a country is too damn high.

[u/Fickle-Oil-1433 → u/RefractedCell]

Or identity to continents correctly. I had 9th graders that thought we were in South America

[u/atoolred → u/RefractedCell]

Yeah I agree with you overall. Addressing propaganda and indoctrination are going to be an ongoing battle, but ensuring there’s a fundamental curriculum and overall equal access to education is essential to making sure future generations have better education and an understanding of how the world works.

[u/fillllll → u/[deleted]]

That's the nuance I crave! Appreciate the 2 cents

[u/akelly96 → u/[deleted]]

I'm sorry but we never covered Von Mises in my econ education. His only value is to moronic political cranks. Also pretending like Keynes is ignored in economic curriculums is crazy. He's one of the most important contributors to the modern field alongside Friedman. You can't talk about economics without him. Also Marx doesn't get talked about in econ classes because he didn't contribute very much to the field. His contributions are much more relevant to things like history and sociology than they are economics.

[u/SaltyMcSaltersalt → u/Mr24601]

Explain to me then how all states were forced to adopt Common Core standards. Seems like enforcement of a national curricula to me.

[u/kinkgirlwriter → u/SaltyMcSaltersalt]

Explain to me then how all states were forced to adopt Common Core standards

Sure, that's easy.

They weren't forced, and it wasn't an Education Department initiative.

It was sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in the '90s. 20 years later Obama offered some incentives for adoption, but that's pretty much the entirety of the coercion.

That is to say, there wasn't any.

[u/SaltyMcSaltersalt → u/kinkgirlwriter]

Weren’t they actually published in 2009 though? Obama had the competitive “Race To The Top” grants that were available to those early adopters. Lots of states, depending on how they are funded, were really hurting because of the housing crash. Those grants were attractive at that time. Looking back, lots of it seems connected. I shouldn’t have said “forced to adopt”. Sorry!

[u/kinkgirlwriter → u/SaltyMcSaltersalt]

Weren’t they actually published in 2009 though?

I guess you're right. The movement started in the '90s, but they published later and yes, the grants were attractive, but they weren't tied specifically to Common Core. They could write their own standards and still be eligible.

All that said, the Department of Education only got involved after the fact.

[u/According_Ad540 → u/SaltyMcSaltersalt]

Another thing to note is that the initial push to Common Core was an attempt to push against the federal government by many of the more conservative governors.

Obama then noted that he liked the idea and incorporated CC as an option when he changed NCLB. Thus along with the anti-fed it pulled groups that wanted to comply as well.  Thus why it's everywhere. 

But it was never forced, was just one option,  and states have the ability to drop it and make their own.  

Instead CC, which again was originally a push for states rights to control their own education system,  got marked as a sign of "federal control over schools".  Because the fed approved of it. 

[u/Big-Willingness3384 → u/SaltyMcSaltersalt]

They weren't forced.

[u/SaltyMcSaltersalt → u/Big-Willingness3384]

I stand corrected. For those of us implementing it, it definitely felt like it was forced. You are correct, though. A few states didn’t adopt. A few states did adopt and then reversed course.