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US high school students math and reading scores hit record new lowedition.cnn.com/2025/09/09/us/student-testing-scores-drop-hnk
272 sats \ 18 comments \ @Coinsreporter 10 Sep Education
Over 30% of U.S. students in their last year of high school lack basic reading skills, the lowest performance in over three decades, according to test results released on Tuesday that the administration of President Donald Trump pointed to as justification for its push to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.
The results from testing in 2024 are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a congressionally authorized project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the National Center for Education Statistics.
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/
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22 sats \ 13 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
US college professor and parent of two school-aged children here. AMA!
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31 sats \ 12 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 10 Sep
An Indian Professor: and guardian of 11.
My first questions:
Who would you blame for this? Why not professors, if not?
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22 sats \ 11 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
  • Who would you blame for this?
I think I'd start with the parents who don't prioritize their kids education. Whether it's due to a lack of caring, a lack of ability, or a lack of time, in the end it is the parents' primary responsibility, not the state's, to educate their children.
Secondarily I would blame the lack of prestige of being a teacher. I think teacher may be one of the lowest prestige white collar jobs in America. Teaching does not attract the best and the brightest, who will be drawn to engineering, law, or medicine usually. As to why being a teacher lacks prestige, well there are probably a lot of reasons.
  • Why not blame professors
It's unfair to blame college professors who don't work with the kids until they've already been brought up through a bad system that didn't teach them fundamentals.
However, I do lay some blame on the professors in departments of education around the country. From what I've seen, they've become more ideological than pedagogical. I also don't think it makes much sense to "specialize in teaching". You specialize in a subject, and that's how you become qualified to teach it. We shouldn't have "Education Majors".
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32 sats \ 5 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 10 Sep
Lack of prestige for teachers/professors is definitely a very big reason then.
In case you are aware, Teachers a.k.a. Gurus are given a place even above God in India and there's one big festivals "Guru Purnima" every year when it's reminded to students and parents that "Noone is bigger than the Guru."
I think this cultural/religious association between students and teacher is really helpful in maintaining the prestige.
Does/did American culture have something like this?
It's unfair to blame college professors who don't work with the kids until they've already been brought up through a bad system that didn't teach them fundamentals.
💯
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42 sats \ 3 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
Oh, definitely nothing close. And even in American movies/television, high school teachers are often portrayed as boring, dumb, lazy, and incompetent.
College professors usually get better treatment by the media.
And it may actually be a reflection of reality. Since college professor is considered prestigious, it does attract some pretty good talent, even if the pay isn't the best. But primary school and secondary school teaching--definitely considered low prestige.
Another big factor I forgot to mention is teachers' unions, which have made it difficult to:
  1. Fire bad teachers
  2. Pay good teachers more than bad teachers
That in itself is a huuuuuuuuuuge problem. I think the reason I didn't bring up teachers unions at first was that I sometimes think people overemphasis the role of the unions. Because I'm not sure there's evidence that teachers in non-unionized states perform better than those in unionized states. And teaching may be even lower-paid, lower-prestige in the non-union states.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
that means that in Latin America we have a better concept of being a teacher or educator than the one they have in the United States. Since I was little, I was told that I had to respect my teacher and that each of the lessons he gave me would change my life, which was the case.
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1 sat \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
For sure. I am not sure of any societies where teachers are disrespected more than in the US
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
It's crazy, I didn't know that, well, in the movies it's something else. The United States has always been seen differently in all aspects, including education.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
wow it's really amazing I didn't know it was like that in India.
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0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
You're right in what you say. Parents are a fundamental part of the education of children who will be the professionals of the future. Teachers have a great responsibility in educating them, and children's concept of school is no longer the same as before.
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1 sat \ 3 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
Yes! Teachers can make a big difference, but only if the child/parent cares. If they don't, there's not much a teacher can do. Maybe an extrordinarily heroic teacher teacher can make a difference even in that circumstance, but for sure most teachers can't.
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21 sats \ 2 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
Honestly, it is an interconnected work of Father, son and teacher and if none of them are connected it will not work.
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1 sat \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
correct
Maybe it is unfair to blame the parents entirely. It is very difficult to earn a living here. Many households both parents have to work at the same time. And in many immigrant families, the parents are not educated and can't speak English well, so they can't help their children with schoolwork.
That's part of it too. But I don't know how much it contributes to the overall decline in outcomes.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
Yes, in Latin America it also happens sometimes, the context that you highlight greatly affects the education of any child.
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31 sats \ 3 replies \ @spiderman 10 Sep
I bet they are learning a lot about the 8.45 genders, 87 races and their intersectional identities. And you think the number of genders must be a whole integer?
That is racist, sexist, capitalist and neo-nazi.
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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep
I think that's part of the problem, but maybe only a small part. I don't think it's the main explanatory factor, but a contributing one.
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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @028559d218 10 Sep
Even if somehow magically they don't teach DEI race sensitivity genders etc... it doesn't improve test scores magically
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Msd0457890 10 Sep
The world is in chaos regarding sexuality and everything that is generated in the system. I truly believe that this is also part of the problem.
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