State public school test scores keep rising, but students? basic proficiency in core subjects does not.
As William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, said in a recent interview, “exit requirements are not at all aligned with entrance requirements of college.”
According to a 2006 state report ? the most recent ? outlining the performance of recent high school graduates in Maryland colleges, the news is grim.
“The percentage of students who took a college preparatory curriculum in high school but still needed remedial assistance in math in college has risen steadily in the past four reports from 26 percent to 30 percent ? the highest figure since this analysis was introduced in the 1994-95 academic year.”
Is this what injecting an extra $1.3 billion into the public school system since 2003 from the law known as Thornton has achieved?
The report cites the astonishing statistic that between 38 percent and 49 percent of students attending community colleges who took college preparatory classes in high school needed math help since 2000. The percent of those students needing remedial help attending four-year colleges has risen from 12 percent to 17 percent since 2004.
Students from Baltimore City and Prince George?s County need the most remedial collegiate help in all subjects.
Fewer students needed help with English and reading ? but the number should be zero.
How can students graduate from high school but not be able to write a five-paragraph essay or perform basic algebra ? skills needed not just for college but for finding and keeping a job, not to mention ensuring the long-term success of the state?s economy?
And how can student test scores showing significant improvement in the percent of those achieving “proficiency” in core subjects not translate into better academic achievement in college?
The only explanation can be that state test proficiency is not “proficient” in the real-world sense of the word.
Chancellor Kirwan said one of the ways to remedy the situation is to look to charter schools, public schools with more autonomy over their budgets and how they teach students ? things that have achieved dramatic academic success for many students. That certainly should be part of the answer. But the best way to ensure academic success would be to let parents choose the school ? public or private ? that best meets their child?s learning needs during the K-12 years.
What?s clear is that perpetuating the myth of student proficiency gains does a disservice to students, universities who accept them, and to employers whose expectations will not align with their new hires? skills. As Kirwan said, without significant academic improvement we?re headed for “unbelievable problems” as a state and as a nation.
