Students make grades, fail tests

A national assessment of the educational progress of high school students reported yesterday… A national assessment of the educational progress of high school students reported yesterday that despite earning high grade-point averages, students are not making the grade on standardized reading and math assessments.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the nation’s report card, surveyed the transcripts of 26,000 students nationwide as well as the reported standardized reading and math scores of 12th graders across the country. The study found a clear disparity between the GPAs achieved by students and their reading and math scores attained on the assessment. Additionally, the results found that the reading and math skills of students surveyed were significantly worse than those of students in 1992, but equal to those in 2002, according to The New York Times.

The study’s findings are a clear indicator that there is a flaw in the current education system. Students’ grades are higher than ever, yet there is a significant lack of reading and math proficiency. This may be indicative of a growing trend in grade inflation.

The increasingly competitive college application pool has caused high school students to feel pressured to achieve perfect grades. Nowadays, with “honors’ inflation,” which gives students a grade boost for taking an honors or Advanced Placement class, having an “A” average isn’t enough to get students into their first-choice school. This puts an added pressure on teachers – who want their students to achieve success – to cave into the demands of students and parents and to give higher grades.

Grade inflation gives students an unrealistic assessment of what college work will be like. Students who achieved superior grades in high school often come into college with a false sense of security, only to receive a reality check after bombing an exam or failing a paper.

The study’s findings, which show no progress in reading and math skills since 2002, may also suggest that the No Child Left Behind Act, which was implemented in 2001, has been ineffective. The legislation, which is geared at “teaching to the tests,” in order to raise national math and reading test scores, has put an added pressure on teachers to teach all students in the same manner. By teaching to the masses, educators are bringing everybody to the middle ground. These lowered expectations are likely to be a setback for students who would normally have the capability to excel in advanced subjects in schools.

Finally, and probably most unfortunately, this recent assessment has shown that the added focus on “teaching to the test” has not even translated into higher math and reading assessment scores.

In a world where technological innovations are developing by the minute, it is sad that our education system has fallen behind in recent years. This somber assessment shows that our country needs to put a different focus on education, one that nurtures the needs of all students.