I. CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

   Researchers note that "standards degradation" is a problem for many schools. Although students may earn appropriate grades for what is expected in a class, in too many schools those expectations are dreadfully low. When students are tested on their knowledge and skills, the truth comes out.

THE RULE:

• In 1996, 64 percent of high school students reported doing less than one hour of homework each night. From an international perspective, U.S. students reported spending 1.7 hours on homework and studying per day, less than the international average of 2.6 hours for students in the final year of secondary school. Students in 15 nations out of 19 reported spending more hours, on average, studying or doing homework per day than their U.S. counterparts.
• Meanwhile, 30 percent of U.S. twelfth-grade students reported working more than five hours per day at a paid, non-instruction-related job. This is more time spent earning money than is spent by students in any other nation involved in the Third International Math and Science Study.
• Studies of German students show that 50 percent of them spend at least two hours per day doing homework, and only 7 or 8 percent watch television for five or more hours a day. This compares with 29 percent of American students doing two or more hours of daily homework, and three times as many American students as German students watching television daily for five or more hours.
• The United States had higher per capita public spending on elementary/ secondary education than 14 of the 21 countries participating in the 1995 TIMSS. Yet American performance resembled, on average, that of the less affluent nations (those with lower GNPs per capita and lower per capita expenditures on K-12 education). Two less affluent countries (Hungary and Slovenia) outperformed the United States.
• TIMMS-Repeat showed U.S. students falling well below Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and 10 other countries, and U.S. 8th grade students taking the test had lower international rankings than the 4th graders taking the test four years earlier. In other words, the longer they stayed in American schools, the worse they did in international comparisons.
• In 1998, only 29 percent of all high school graduates earned the "minimum" credits in academic courses called for by the National Commission on Excellence in Education in 1983.
• According to an October 2001 survey conducted by Metropolitan Life, while 56 percent of secondary school principals and 39 percent of teachers believe they have high expectations for students, only 25 percent of the students agree. And only 23 percent of high school students describe their classes as very challenging - although 67 percent of principals and 48 percent of teachers think they are."

The Exceptions:

• KIPP Academy, a Houston charter school, boasts the highest passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) of any middle school in the city. Its students score in the 81st percentile nationwide in math on the Stanford 9. It achieves these remarkable results with a student body that is 90 percent Hispanic and 95 percent low-income. Houston's hardest working students, as KIPPsters are called, are reminded daily that "there are no short cuts." These 5th through 10th graders make incredible academic strides the old-fashioned way. They study from 7:30 in the morning until 5:00 in he evening and take home hours of homework each night. They meet for four hours on Saturdays and through half the summer. The extraordinarily dedicated teachers keep the same hours and freely give our their home and cellular numbers so students can call them with questions in the evening. In 2000, 98 percent of KIPP students passed all sections of the TAAS. KIPP students earned a perfect passing rate in Math, a school wide passing rate of 99 percent in reading and science and 97 percent in Social Studies. No students were exempted from taking the test.
• Rafe Esquith, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles, has his students work 11 hours a day, 50 weeks a year. They study classic literature, take up musical instruments, learn algebra, and perform one Shakespeare play annually. Most children at Hobart are poor immigrants from families that don't speak English. Three-quarters come from single parent homes, and many come from alcoholic families, but Esquith and "Hobart's Shakespeareans," as his students are called, have achieved enormous success. They have performed at the Globe Theatre in London, for members of the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the classroom, too: Esquith's students' scores on standardized tests consistently reach the 90th to 95th percentile nationally.
• Mabel B. Wesley Elementary is a public school that serves the violent, drug- infested Acres Homes section of Houston. All of its students qualify for federal Title I education funds, and its student body is 99 percent minority (92 percent black, 7 percent Hispanic). Under the educational direction of principal Thaddeus Lott, the school has graduated thousands of children whose reading and math scores rival those of their suburban peers. So popular was the program that residents petitioned the Houston school board to allow Lott to manage Wesley and three neighboring schools as a separate district. The district agreed in the spring of 1995. Before Lott introduced his educational philosophy in 1975, only 18 percent of Wesley's third-graders were scoring at or above grade level in reading comprehension on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. By 1980, 85 percent were achieving at or above grade level. In 1998, 100 percent of Wesley's third-graders passed the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in reading. In the 5th grade, 94 percent passed in math and 97 percent passed in reading. Lott makes this happen by avoiding popular education trends in favor of the basics: a proven curriculum, rigorous teacher training, strict discipline, high expectations of teachers and students, and a fervent belief that any child can learn.

   American students, particularly in urban areas, drop out of school at alarming rates. Those who do graduate are often poorly prepared for college or the workplace.

THE RULE:

• A 2001 study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University estimates that about half the high schools in the nation's 35 largest cities graduate see at least 50 percent of incoming first-year students drop out, and notes that such schools are disproportionately attended by minorities.
• As of October 1999, the number of young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not in school and do not have a diploma registered at 11.2 percent. Broken down by ethnic groups, 7.3 percent of white young adults, 12.6 percent of black young adults, and 28.6 percent of Hispanic young adults are not in school and do not have a diploma.
• The drop out rate is not simply a low-income issue. In 1999, middle income students made up 56.8 percent of all dropouts.
• Reports the Department of Education: "Despite the increased importance of a high school education, the high school completion rate for the country has increased only slightly over the last quarter of a century." Yet, as Public Agenda's 2001 Reality Check survey reveals, even those who graduate may not be prepared to succeed on the job or in college. Little more than a third of college professors and employers rank graduates' basic math skills as good or excellent and little more than a quarter are satisfied with graduates' ability to write clearly.
• While most American high school teachers feel that a high school diploma means that a graduate has mastered at least basic skills, 60 percent of employers, and 74 percent of professors believe a diploma is no guarantee.

The Exceptions:

• In Chicago, the Westside Preparatory School uses a rigorous curriculum that has some of its youngest students reading Plato. "Success doesn't come to you, you go to it," says Marva Collins, the founder of Westside Prep. Students at her school memorize and recite one poem weekly, and turn in a book report every two weeks. Collins, a former Chicago public school teacher educator, has gained recognition nationwide for her success at teaching urban minority children. She has twice been featured on CBS's 60 Minutes, first in 1979 when a reporter interviewed 33 bright, articulate, and enthusiastic Westside students, and again in a 1995 follow-up. The second show found that, although the statistics would predict that of those 33 students, one would be dead, two in jail, and five on welfare, all of the students were leading successful lives, either in college or solid careers.
• According to a 2001 study commissioned by New York University, students at inner-city Catholic schools, almost all of whom are poor and non-white, pass state tests at about twice the rate of students in neighboring public schools.
• In October 2000, Arizona charter school Tempe Prep went from a 19 percent pass rate on the state AIMS math test to an 80 percent pass rate, even as the state average in Arizona was only 17 percent. The key certainly wasn't the demographics of the school - a nearby and demographically comparable high school achieved only a 25 percent pass rate.
• Students at the Benjamin Franklin Charter School (BFCS) in Franklin, Massachusetts show increasing academic achievement. In 1997, 80 percent of third-graders reached "proficient" or "advanced" status on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. In 1998, 87 percent were "proficient" or "advanced," and in 1999, 94 percent were "proficient" or "advanced." Opened in 1996, BFCS prepares minority youth to overcome traditional barriers to academic success and focuses on mathematics and science, within the context of a strong foundation in social studies, language arts and foreign language. The school is located in a low-income neighborhood.
• In 1999, City Academy in St. Paul, MN, the nation's first charter school, reported that all but one of its 40 graduates (all of whom were former dropouts) had been accepted into post-secondary programs.

    In an educational environment that encourages self-esteem over academic excellence and puts pressures on schools to demonstrate student success, grade inflation has flourished...
• Since 1991, the proportion of SAT takers with grades in the "A" range has climbed from 28 percent to 41 percent, while their SAT scores have declined.
A 1998 survey fromWho's Who Among American High School Students found that fewer than 3 in 10 teens included in the publication think their school is "very academically rigorous." More than half of the teens surveyed said they spent only an hour a day or less on homework. Nearly 8 of 10 of these top teens admit to cheating in school. Two-thirds of both students and parents say that cheating "is not a big deal."
• Only 27 percent of the teachers surveyed by Who's Who think their schools are academically challenging, and 4 in 10 teachers say they challenge their students to work hard.

...and the impact upon higher education is evident...

• According to the 32nd Annual Survey of Freshman Attitudes by American Council on Education (ACE) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), there is a gap between perception and reality regarding academic achievement. While a majority of freshman report having average high school grades of "B-" or higher, more than half of the students reported needing some type of remedial college school work. Despite the need for remedial work, 56 percent of the surveyed students said they are above average in academic ability.
• Nationwide, 63 percent of students at two-year colleges and 40 percent of non-transfer students at four-year colleges are assigned to remedial courses.
• In California, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) found 48 percent of the state's fourth graders scoring below basic levels in math, the same percentage as California State University students requiring remedial math instruction upon entry to the system in 1994.
• And remedial work is costly. Scholars from the Brookings Institution and Thomas B. Fordham Foundation estimate the cost of remedial education to American colleges and universities at around $1 billion annually.

...as is the effect upon the workforce.

• A 1999 report on literacy by the Department of Education found that four in ten Americans scored on the two lowest levels of proficiency at literacy-related tasks, and described "a bleak outlook for the future of the United States labor market."
• A 1998 National Association of Manufacturers report endorsed national tests, charter schools, and school vouchers as ways to improve the skills of high school graduates entering the workforce. The report reveals that the capabilities of high school students are not keeping up with the skill requirements of manufacturers. Forty percent of all 17-year-olds do not have the math skills and 60 percent of 17-year-olds do not have the reading skills to hold down a production job at a manufacturing company.

IV. The 3 R's:

A distressing number of American students are incapable of reading at basic levels for their grades.

THE RULE:

• Thirty-seven percent of 4th grade students in the U.S. scored below the "basic" reading level, as measured by 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Report Card. Among Hispanic 4th graders, the number is 58 percent; among black 4th grade students, 63 percent.
• Only 32 percent of 4th graders are reading at the "proficient" level according to the NAEP Reading Report Card.
• University of Illinois professor Herbert J. Walberg points out national inefficiency in teaching reading through the inverse relationship between per-pupil spending and reading scores from the 1970's to the 1990's. While education spending rose over $2,000 per year per pupil, reading scores dropped over 60 points in the same period.
• Only 25 percent of high school juniors in the District of Columbia scored at or above "basic" in reading on the Stanford 9 achievement test.
• In Washington State, only 23 percent of fourth graders could pass all four subjects in the state's rigorous standardized tests given in 2000.

The Exception:

• Edison-Brentwood Academy in East Palo Alto, run by the for-profit education company Edison Schools, received a ranking of 10 out of 10 from the state of California's "similar schools ranking" for the 1999-2000 academic year. A score of 10 marks a school that is "well above average for elementary, middle, or high schools with similar [demographic] characteristics."
• The Accelerated Charter School in South Central Los Angeles outperformed neighboring public schools by 270 percent on standardized tests in 2000. "It's like a $20,000 private school without the tuition," says Mario Ortega, whose children attend Accelerated. "I never expected to find quality education in South Central Los Angeles." The student attendance rate, at 97 percent, is one of the highest in the area and the waiting list numbers at 1,200. The school's success is the reason it was named one of TIME Magazine's "Schools of the Year" in 2001.
• In the spring of 2000, Oakland, East Palo Alto, San Carlos and Antioch Charter Schools posted better reading scores than their public school neighbors on the annual statewide Stanford 9 exam. Oakland Charter Academy's 6th through 8th graders ranked in the 24th percentile nationally in reading. The closest public middle school, Roosevelt, ranked in the 20th percentile. East Palo Alto Charter School's 2nd-through 6th-graders bested their counterparts at Cesar Chavez Elementary, scoring in the 30th percentile compared with the 24th percentile for the public school. East Palo Alto Charter School's second- through sixth-graders bested their counterparts at Cesar Chavez Elementary, scoring in the 30th percentile compared with the 24th percentile for the public school.
• White Pine Academy, in Leslie, Michigan, uses the SRA Direct Instruction for reading and Saxon Math for math - two programs often dismissed by the education establishment. The results speak for themselves: Students who took the TerraNova Achievement Test in fall 1999 and again in spring 2000 gained 1.83 years academically. Students who tested behind the national average in the fall were well above the national average by spring in nearly all grades.

    In tandem with dismal NAEP results in 1996, the National Science Foundation released a study pointing to "lack of coherence" in math and science curricula as a major factor in the poor showing of U.S. students when compared with the world. "The U.S. curriculum is a mile wide and an inch deep," says an official in the National Science Foundation.

The Rule:

• American high school seniors perform far worse than their counterparts in other developed nations, according to The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) scores released in February 1998. According to the results, American seniors outperformed only two of 21 nations in mathematics, finishing significantly below 14 nations. On the advanced math assessment of 15 countries, 11 countries outperformed our seniors.
• On the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science tests, 40 percent of our 8th graders and 43 percent of our high school seniors scored "Below Basic" - the lowest possible level. In the 2000 Math NAEP Report Card, 35 percent of 12th graders are below basic, and test scores are declining. In reading, as measured by the most recent NAEP Reading Report Card, 37 percent of 4th grade students scored "Below Basic."
• Between 30 and 40 percent of American students are performing below basic skills in math across all grade levels, according to the NAEP 2000 Mathematics Report Card. For fourth-grade students, the percentage performing below the Basic level, the lowest possible level, was 31 percent in 2000, up from to 36 percent in 1996; for eighth-grade students, 34 percent didn't reach a basic level of competency in 2000, as compared to 38 percent in 1996; for twelfth-grade students, 35 percent were below basic in 2000, as compared to 31 percent in 1996 - some improvements, but still leaving much work to be done.
• The 1999 TIMSS Benchmarking study "shows that higher achievement is related to the emphasis that teachers place on reasoning and problem-solving activities," according to the U.S. Department of Education. Countries such as Japan, which teaches math with emphasis on developing topics and teaching concepts, far outscored the U.S., where teachers tend to use an episodic and procedural-oriented approach.
• Although research shows that higher student math achievement is associated with teachers who have bachelor's or master's degrees in mathematics, American eighth-grade students are far less likely than their international counterparts to be taught math by such teachers.
• Despite typically having fewer math degrees and lower-scoring students than their colleagues in other developed countries, American eighth-grade math teachers lead the way in self-esteem: 87 percent surveyed on the 1999 TIMSS Benchmarking study said they feel very well prepared to teach math, compared to an international average of 63 percent.

The Exceptions:

• Teachers at Owen Elementary in Detroit, MI work in teams to prepare children for end-of-the-year exams. Although 82 percent of Owen students come from low-income families, they have astounding success. In 1999, 94 percent of Owen 4th grade students passed the state math exam, compared to 49 percent of all 4th grade students in the city. School-wide, Owen students' scores on the state tests reach the 80th percentile in reading and the 79th in math. Principal Patsy Burks credits expert teachers and a nurturing environment. "We want a warm and loving environment to help raise the standards, not to lower them," she says. "We teach children that being smart is something earned through hard work. We don't ask the children 'How bad off are you?' We say, 'Find out how good you can be.'"
• States that maintain high standards and the tests to measure progress toward them exhibit that the increasing accomplishment of their students. In Virginia, the percentage of students have seen double-digit improvements at all grade levels, but particularly in the upper grades. Since their inception, the number of students passing Algebra I has increased by 34 percentage points; the number passing Algebra II has increased by 43 percentage points, with scores among black students rising even faster. In Massachusetts, the tale has been even more dramatic: The 2001 10th grade math passing rate was 75 percent, up from 55 percent a year earlier
• When Hellen DeBerry took over as principal of Earhart Elementary in 1991, sixth-grade students at the southside Chicago school scored at the 27th percentile in math and the 40th percentile in reading on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. When she left to help other schools eight years later, those percentiles had soared to 85th and 78th, respectively. The school's median scores were at the 80th percentile in math and the 70th percentile in reading. The circumstances had not changed; Earhart students are still 99 percent black and 1 percent Hispanic and four out of five still qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. The difference has been dedication and high expectations. "You have to set your standards regardless of constituency," says DeBerry. "Provide the free meals to those who need them, but keep your academic standards."
• Students at Summit Charter School in Maitland, Florida average approximately one year's academic gain in reading and math based on nationally norm-referenced standardized test results. The scores are a dramatic change when compared to prior years' growth for these students, all of whom are identified with Specific Learning Disabilities. Student test scores represented growth at 2.3 times their previous yearly academic gains in reading, 2.8 times their previous growth in reading comprehension, and 2.0 times their increases in math calculation when compared to average academic growth for all prior years.

"Don't Know Much About History" ... or science books. As the song by Sam Cooke tells us, American students are also lacking fundamental knowledge of history, U.S. government and more.