WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2007
U.S. Students Lose Ground On Reading Tests
American Fourth Graders Score The Same As 2001, Outperformed By 10 Other Nations
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(AP / CBS)
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Test results released Wednesday showed U.S. students, who took the test last year, scored about the same as they did in 2001, the last time the test was given, despite an increased emphasis on reading under the No Child Left Behind law.
Still, the U.S. average score on the Progress in International Reading Literacy test remained above the international average. Ten countries or jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and three Canadian provinces, were ahead of the United States this time. In 2001, only three countries were ahead of the United States.
The 2002 No Child Left Behind law requires schools to test students annually in reading and math, and imposes sanctions on schools that miss testing goals.
The U.S. performance on the international test of 45 nations or jurisdictions differed somewhat from results of a U.S. national reading test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card. Fourth-grade reading scores rose modestly on the most recent version of that test, taken earlier this year and measuring growth since 2005. During the previous two-year period, scores were flat.
On the latest international exam, U.S. students posted a lower average score than students in Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Hungary, Italy and Sweden, along with the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
Last time, Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore were behind the United States.
Hong Kong and Singapore have taken steps since then, such as increasing teacher preparation, providing more tutoring and raising public awareness about the importance of reading, said Ina Mullis, co-director of the International Study Center at Boston College, which conducts the international reading literacy study.
The results also showed:
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- There has been an attempt to plagiarize this article on Gather.com. I called the author of the article on this and he has since altered the article (edit time shown) to include the phrase, "According to CBS news" at the top of the article. There is still content within the article left unquoted, with a word for word copy of the full second sentence. It looks like the author of the post is the one who wrote the sentence. The article can be found at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977189435
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Posted by ryanlynn on 11/28/07 at 4:28PM
ttinsly at 08:48 AM : Nov 29, 2007
If you think the University system is in good shape, read the following. I copied it from a blog from NY. You can draw your own conclusion.
Did anyway thing that if they were Lap Tops from the Campus that they can be tracked. When to school there for 2 years, had one of those laptops and there was always a traker on it so that it could be found. How stupid can these people be.- Reply to this comment
- This is indeed a distraction. Being bilingual is a matter of course in Europe and it is an advantage not a ''''learning disability'''' as you are inferring.
Posted by curse914 at 08:26 AM : Nov 29, 2007
I never said that it was a ''''learning disability'''' , but rather a distraction. They are distracting our kids from learning English, they take time from students, who may need a little help from the teacher. But can''t get that help, because the teacher is trying to teach the illegas kids, English.
Yes, It''s true that most people in Europe are not bilingual, but multi lingual. They are taught at an early age to speak different languages. If we lived in a similar situation, we would be bilingual, but we don''t. - Reply to this comment
- Now that we have some solid data showing that "No Child Left Behind" is a fraud, we need to be ready for defensive and intentionally dishonest tactics from the political party which has brought the quickest degradation of a civilization since Nero presided over the fall of Rome.
"Maybe the reason lil'''' Johny can''''t read, is because they''''ve tossed English out , in favor of Spanish." Indicates that the first attempt at distraction will be to blame the immagrant population.
Let''s not fall for it. Johnny can''t read because the schools are too busy teaching to over-administered tests to teach solid skills along with the arts and traditional curriculum which support steady, real cognitive growth. And at home parents, all parents, are too busy working two or more jobs trying to keep up with the inflation to have time and energy to read with children at night. - Reply to this comment
- Bush has officially made us produce dumber kids.
What else can he ruin in this country before he leaves office? - Reply to this comment
- I am having a difficult time reading this article.
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- there are, maybe, 12 million illegal aliens in the US. Not 120 million. besides immigrant children nearly always do great in school as they come here with parents who are determined that their children succeed in this country and put the extra eefort into thier education.
Posted by SgtRDS at 10:06 PM : Nov 28, 2007
Maybe the reason lil'' Johny can''t read, is because they''ve tossed English out , in favor of Spanish.
We''ve had teach these lil'' illegals in their native language, and put our kids aside.
When will people learn? - Reply to this comment
- There seems to be a problem with our priorities.
We need to improve our educational system..
First step is to raise the standards for our teachers, and increase their pay to make the job more competetive, assuring that the best don''t go into other fields.
Same for law enforcement.. Raise the bar, require a degree in criminology and pay them well.. Get the best we can..
Health care for everyone. Allow individuals their choice of MD''s. Preventative medicine is far cheaper than waiting for conditions to become more serious..
We need to take care of our own people first. Then worry about the pork barrel, not the other way around.. The millions in cash we sent to Iraq that was mishandled and stolen would have helped so many of our own people.
Don''t you deserve your fair share? You''ve paid the taxes and played the game, and seen your precious earnngs wasted by the polticians. - Reply to this comment
- An ignorant and submissive population is what the Republicans have been after. Good work guys!
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- SgtRDS: I assumed that security should always be "public", but with privatized armies of mercenaries running around in Iraq, it''s good that you point that out.
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