Here it comes, here it comes, here comes what won't be a surprise for anyone paying attention. It turns out that Johnny can't read and probably Mary, too. Here is the story:

K-12 public education has failed to prepare incoming college students how to write at the public level. 

In a desperate attempt to catch high school graduates up to speed, many universities are providing remedial writing classes to college students. 

About 68% of those starting at two-year public institutions and 40% of students enrolled in public four-year universities took at least one remedial writing class between 2003 to 2009, according to an original report from the Department of Education.

Average math and reading test scores dropped significantly from 2019 to 2021, according to a 2022 study by two Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). It seems likely that the 2016 figures would be much worse if they were resampled in 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Dr. Megan Kuhfeld, one of three NWEA study researchers, told Campus Reform Aug. 30 that “It seems likely but with two caveats: (a) the students in our study have not reached college yet so it is hard to extrapolate from middle school test results and (b) colleges may have changed their criteria for routing students into remedial courses as a result of the pandemic, which would also change the proportion.”

The remediation statistics from the NWEA study indicate that many incoming and current college students are not prepared for university-level coursework. As such, numerous institutions are offering remedial writing courses aimed at preparing incoming freshmen on how to write at the college level. 

He can't read or write and all he was taught about George Washington is that he was a slaveowner. Did I miss anything?

Of course, this is a boon for school choice. At least, mom at home requires that you read at whatever level because she approves your diploma. She does not have to "pass you" to make the teachers' union happy.

Last, but not least, am I the only one who remembers when kids had to go to summer school to work their way back up? I guess that's too complicated these days, or so it seems.

The real casualty here are Johnny and Mary who are being thrown into the real world without basic skills. Maybe colleges should not accept high-school graduates who can't read or do they call that discrimination these days?

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Image: Alan Levine via Picryl