Andrew Coulson of Cato responds to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data here. The picture is bleak. Students’ skills haven’t changed much since testing began 30-something years ago, but the United States has spent more and more money only to get those same results.
Coulson is absolutely correct about this:
Anyone who points to the slightly higher scores in the early grades as cause for celebration is missing the point.
Nobody hires a fourth-grader. Gains in elementary school achievement are worth something only if they can be sustained until students graduate.
