The Huffington Post – Dr. Michael J. Feuer
“The Nation’s Report Card came home last week, and the results weren’t pretty: American 4th and 8th graders seem to know less math and 8th graders seem to read less well than they did two years ago. Kids in only three jurisdictions — the District of Columbia, Mississippi and Department of Defense schools — showed gains in math. But the results are complicated. Although performance of black, white and Hispanic 8th-graders slipped in both subjects, the decline in performance for girls and white students seems to have been more pronounced than for black, Hispanic, poor and disabled students, and kids in cities seem to have fared better than their peers in the suburbs. 13 states showed gains in 4th grade reading and one showed a gain in 8th grade reading. Everyone seems to be better off than 25 years ago, but even though different groups have experienced fluctuations over the years this is the first time that the overall national average dropped.”(more)