American students are falling behind, and the most common explanations overlook the main problem, Idrees Kahloon argues. theatln.tc/jMK9nSDc
“The past decade may rank as one of the worst in the history of American education,” Kahloon writes. At the start of the century, American students steadily improved in math and reading. This progress began to stall around 2013—and then backslid dramatically. Test scores released this year show that 33 percent of eighth graders and 40 percent of fourth graders are reading at a level that is “below basic.”
“The decline began well before the pandemic, so COVID-era disruptions alone cannot explain it,” Kahloon writes. Some progressives blame insufficient spending, but school spending has not declined in the period when students have fallen behind. In fact, it has increased. Another theory is that smartphones are to blame. Although this hypothesis matches the timeline, it has other holes: Performance is declining for children of all ages, even those in elementary school, who are less likely to have smartphones. And even though smartphone use is almost universal among older kids, high-achieving students are doing roughly as well as they always have, while those at the bottom are seeing rapid losses.
“But there’s another explanation, albeit one that progressives in particular seem reluctant to countenance,” Kahloon writes: “a pervasive refusal to hold children to high standards.”
The Atlantic
American students are falling behind, and the most common explanations overlook the main problem, Idrees Kahloon argues. theatln.tc/jMK9nSDc
“The past decade may rank as one of the worst in the history of American education,” Kahloon writes. At the start of the century, American students steadily improved in math and reading. This progress began to stall around 2013—and then backslid dramatically. Test scores released this year show that 33 percent of eighth graders and 40 percent of fourth graders are reading at a level that is “below basic.”
“The decline began well before the pandemic, so COVID-era disruptions alone cannot explain it,” Kahloon writes. Some progressives blame insufficient spending, but school spending has not declined in the period when students have fallen behind. In fact, it has increased. Another theory is that smartphones are to blame. Although this hypothesis matches the timeline, it has other holes: Performance is declining for children of all ages, even those in elementary school, who are less likely to have smartphones. And even though smartphone use is almost universal among older kids, high-achieving students are doing roughly as well as they always have, while those at the bottom are seeing rapid losses.
“But there’s another explanation, albeit one that progressives in particular seem reluctant to countenance,” Kahloon writes: “a pervasive refusal to hold children to high standards.”
🎨: Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic
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