Our state leadership has failed the PUBLIC in public schools.
That’s less than usual, factoring for inflation (which is a global phenomenon right now).
I get that I am arguing with a moron here, but there’s a reason Iowa’s private schools lobbied hard to not have to release performance data to get taxpayer money (they won in that. No accountability). Because even they know the truth: kids of the same demographics in public schools are every bit their equal, perhaps superior. One of the only comparative measures we get is the ACT Cedar Rapids Kennedy (avg. 26) outperforms CR Xavier (24). Iowa City West (avg. 26) outperforms Regina (24), and City High (24) is Regina’s equal. Private school parents in Iowa aren’t sending their kids there out of any logical data. They want their kids to avoid Black kids, avoid poor kids, indoctrinate them with conservative religious ideology, and to project social status.
As for your braindead, far right propaganda regurgitation about the nation:
So how are American students doing? As the Brookings report reveals, America’s scores on the PISA test (Program for International Student Assessment) have remained relatively flat from 2000 to 2014, but the data from the latest TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Assessment) test in 2015 show Americans scored their highest marks in the 20-year history of U.S. tests. One wonders why that wasn’t reported widely.
As for international scores, we need to employ measures with statistical significance, not a number ranking system. Such proper analysis paints a different picture of where America ranks. Among the top 69 countries tested in the PISA rankings in reading, we’re ahead of 42 in reading and statistically tied with another 13, scoring only behind 14 countries. When it comes to PISA math and science, the numbers are lower. For math, we’re ahead of 28, tied with five, and behind 36. Science is a little better; the USA is ahead of 39, tied with 12, and behind 18 countries.
Yet those TIMSS scores, which also look at math and science, provide better results for American students. Our fourth graders are ahead of 34 in math, tied with nine, and behind 10, while scoring ahead of 38 in science, tying with seven, and placing behind seven. For our eighth graders, it’s a similar score: they’re ahead of 24 countries in math, tied with 11, and behind eight. For science, U.S. eighth graders are ahead of 26 countries, tied with nine, and behind seven. That’s definitely not Third World; it’s not even close. PISA scores are closer to Top 20 for reading and science, and TIMSS scores in math and science show top 10 results.
To use a sports metaphor for these international tests, the U.S. is in the playoffs, but it’s not the top-seeded team. Those real results are useful to know when deciding whether to blow up the franchise and start all over or build on prior success to make the modifications necessary to be the best.
Americans scored their highest marks in the 20-year history of the tests.
observer.com