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Four-Fifths of U.S. High School Graduates Not Ready for College

by Open-Publishing - Thursday 17 August 2006
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School-University USA

Four-Fifths of U.S. High School Graduates Not Ready for College

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — Almost four-fifths of U.S. high school graduates failed to pass this year’s standard examinations designed to show their readiness for college, test designer ACT Inc. reported.

Scores on the four-part ACT test, taken this year by more than 1.2 million U.S. students, ranged from only 27 percent passing in biology to 69 percent in English, the company reported. A total of 21 percent met the benchmark in all four subject areas, including algebra and social science, it said.

The nationwide average total score on the ACT test rose the fastest in 20 years, yet the overall performance remains unacceptable, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said.

The ACT findings clearly point to the need for high schools to require a rigorous, four-year core curriculum and to offer advanced placement classes so that our graduates are prepared to compete and succeed in both college and the workforce,'' Spellings said in a statement. The ACT tests, based on curriculum surveys of high school and college instructors, serve as a competitor to the SAT test administered by the New York-based College Board. ACT's benchmark for passing is designed to indicate a 50 percent chance of obtaining a grade ofB’’ or higher in the college-level course.

More than 40 percent of U.S. high school graduates took the ACT tests this year, said Richard Ferguson, chief executive of the Iowa City, Iowa-based company. Yet the low pass rate suggests that many college students will struggle or need some remediation along the way,'' Ferguson said.We have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills they need to succeed at the next level of education,’’ he said in a briefing on the results.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Basken in Washington at pbasken@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 16, 2006 00:02 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7iXKPZ.TBiw&refer=us

Forum posts

  • Why is this a news story? Hasn’t this been the plan for years? How else are they going to produce a population so moronic that they’ll accept a consiracy theory so stupid that it involves planes bringing down WTC 1 2&7( and no plane ever touched WTC 7). But hell, details!

  • the elite have dumbed down public education on purpous. They are not interested in a population that is smart enough to figure out how badly they have been getting fucked for the past few decades. They only want a population that can do there slave work for them. A time will come when the chickens will come home to roost and the revolution will clean house on the rich elite scum that really run this shithole country.

  • I reely dun’t get all the fuss about edukashon. Can’t we all sord of lightin up? Whize nowing about Goerge Washintun so Goddamn emportunt?

    I go too work. I come home. Eat. Put the 5 youngins to bed, wash a litul TV and then hit the sak.
    Am I supoze to reed a book evree night? The hell with that.

    I got me an Xplorer, two platnum cards, a cupple of hot stocks rite now, and Im all about happy. The PHd living nex door haz bin lookin for a job now goin on 2 yeers. Ha! lol. Go figuur that out.