Dr. Sandra L. Stotsky, professor emerita at the University of Arkansas, recently said that Renaissance Learning’s latest report revealed that a large number of college freshman are reading at a seventh-grade level.
Stotsky, who received her Ed. D. from Harvard, is a well-known and respected figure in the world of education. She served on the Common Core Validation Committee in 2009-10 and, along with colleague James Milgram, professor of mathematics at Stanford University, refused to approve Common Core’s standards, which she called “inferior.”
In a recent interview with Breitbart Texas, Stotsky said:
We are spending billions of dollars trying to send students to college and maintain them there when, on average, they read at about the grade 6 or 7 level, according to Renaissance Learning’s latest report on what American students in grades 9-12 read, whether assigned or chosen.
Stotsky also pointed out that as a result of students reading on a lower level of difficulty and complexity in high school, colleges now assign a lower reading level of books as summer reading to incoming freshmen.
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Stupid people are easily led and coerced.
ReplyDeleteSoon, BY DESIGN (!), we will have a population that can't read, can't write, can't think, can't work, know no history and have no idea how and why we became the most powerful economic and military entity in known history. From ragtag colonies to that in less than 200 years.
"Inferior" doesn't even begin to describe the educational system we have in operation now.
Keep cheering.
When was the last time anyone gave a kid a book as a gift? Or a series of books?
ReplyDeleteDecreased reading skills are a direct reflection of decreased reading effort and opportunity. Reading is a skill that has to be practiced and continuously expanded as children grow to adulthood.
Start reading to kids from Day 1 and actively encourage them to read on their own as they grow.
Never overestimate the reading level of a 7th grader.For the past 10 years 5th,6th,and 7th graders have been used as a benchmark for how stupid the rest of us are.Why then are they put on a missing child list when they run away from home? According to posts like this and others they should be smart enough to go out on their own and make out just fine.Would'nt that be a riot..
ReplyDeleteThank you, 9:44. Yours is the best post that I have read in some time. I started reading again when I became a father - to set an example for my kids. Best thing I could have done. They are now literate, informed adults and I'm still an avid reader. I couldn't agree more with your suggestion of books as gifts.
ReplyDeleteAnd 9:23, if the system won't teach your children, then be a parent and do it yourself.