Students are not properly prepared to succeed

Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, November 11, 2013.

The low test scores released last week were expected, state and local education leaders said, because standards are higher.

That makes sense. What seems to have been overlooked, however, is that similar standards have been in place all along.

For example, are North Carolina high school graduates prepared to succeed in college? There’s plenty of data to answer that question with precision.

The tougher tests given to North Carolina students last school year applied “college-and-career-ready content standards” and found that 44.7 percent were on track. That’s a low number, but it compares closely to a number that comes from the University of North Carolina: Only 37 percent of in-state public high school graduates enrolling in the fall of 2011 completed their first year of studies with at least a C average and 30 credit hours — in other words, on pace to earn a degree in four years.

Using that yardstick, it appears that the latest test results may be more realistic than those that recorded much higher scores in previous years.

Entering the UNC system (or some other four-year college or university) isn’t the goal of every high school graduate, of course. Some move on to community colleges or enroll in job-training programs. Some join the military. Some go straight to work. Some, unfortunately, can’t find employment. But, wherever they go, all need to be well-prepared. That simply has not been the case, and the new assessment might show more clearly the extent of the problem.

Comparing the 2013 scores to previous years’ results isn’t helpful. But a new baseline has been established, and improvements must be made from now on.

It is possible to see how student groups, individual schools, school systems and even states stack up to one another. Guilford County Schools came up just short of the state average but several points below Charlotte-Mecklenburg and well behind Wake County. (The same is true for those UNC measures.)

There are huge disparities within Guilford County Schools. At Pearce Elementary, 79 percent of students were proficient in reading, according to the tests. At Fairview Elementary, only 9 percent reached that level — a distressing number.

The curricula linked to the new standards, called Common Core, demand more problem-solving and depth of understanding, educators say. They had to teach in new ways. Now, nearing the halfway point of year two, the adjustment period should be over and progress can be made.

Unfortunately, schools face other difficulties. Budget cuts have taken away teaching assistants and increased some class sizes. While teachers have to work harder, they’re going another year without pay raises, losing financial incentives to earn master’s degrees and facing other challenges to their professional status. The worry is that many will give up, especially if the economy begins to produce other job opportunities.

Yet the goal is critical. Students must gain important skills each year, adding annual stepping stones that will prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead in higher education or employment in a competitive environment where falling behind is unacceptable.