“It’s time for Michigan leaders to ensure our system is teaching students at the high levels of achievement they deserve,” or at least so writes Amber Arellano executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest and Ken Whipple chair of the Michigan Achieves leadership council in a Detroit News op-ed.
Note to Amber Arellano executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest and Ken Whipple chair of the Michigan Achieves leadership council:
As it turns out, since clearly you two are reading a different set of NAEP scores, the “Trend in NAEP reading average scores for fourth-grade public school students in Michigan and nation (public)…” since 1992 has remained static. 216 in 1992 – 216 in 2015. The state scores were highest just before the recession (221) and dropped back to the 1992 level during the recession and which period has seen a precipitous flat lining of the per pupil foundation grant. Want better reading scores?
Continue to reduce the poverty level and increase funding to schools earmarked for early-education and reading interventions.
Oh, and stop whining about accountability until you do because educational advocacy groups such as yours ought to be held accountable too for inaccurately reporting and inappropriately informing the public about what you believe you think you know.
Mister Journalism: "Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning" 