Sad Statistics

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute runs an article about congressional efforts to update the No Child Left Behind act. Its author argues for setting realistic goals for improvement, as opposed to aspirational or "moonshot" goals which are idealistic-as-anything but entirely unreachable, leading to discouragement.

As part of the justification for this viewpoint, the author reproduces a graph showing data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the "Nation's Report Card," entitled:

NAEP Grade Twelve:
Percentage at or above "College-Prepared in Reading"

by Major Racial Groups

The most recent NAEP data, from 2013, show that 48% of white high school seniors are good readers, while perhaps 23% of Hispanics and 17% of blacks meet that standard. Given those performance levels, setting a goal of getting all youngsters to meet the standard is extremely unrealistic and ultimately self-defeating.