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>It seems to be reversing, at least among affluent kids. Is there proof the affluent ever were suffering? From the article we're discussing: >Across grades an

>It seems to be reversing, at least among affluent kids. Is there proof the affluent ever were suffering? From the article we're discussing: >Across grades and subjects, the NAEP results show that the top tenth of students are doing roughly as well as they always have, whereas those at the bottom are doing worse.

nostrademons 1y ago
The low-income story gets most of the airtime because most people are not interested in reading about how rich people are struggling, but there was also a significant decline in affluent districts as well. See eg. this Boston Globe article about how even the top districts in the state (which itself is historically the top in the country) are using poor instructional methods: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/metro/reading-skills-top-ranked-ma-schools/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/metro/reading-skills-... https://archive.is/epEe5 https://archive.is/epEe5 I grew up near most of these districts, and and my mom taught in one of them. I was shocked at how low MCAS Reading scores have fallen. I was the first class to take them; it's not a hard test, and it's reportedly gotten even easier in the 30 years since I took it. And yet 30% of students in affluent districts can't pass them. Also we encountered this personally when hiring a babysitter for our kids. She was a college junior, grew up in an adjacent city with $2.5M average house prices, was otherwise great with the kids. She struggled to get through The Lorax - my kindergartner could read it better than her.
- ribosometronome 1y ago
  I'm still not sure that article supports that rich people are struggling. My take away is that the core point of the article is the achievement gap between rich and poor students, especially in affluent schools. It kind of drives home that the rich kids aren't struggling, really. >Although the kids who are lagging come from all backgrounds, they are disproportionately Black or Latino, live in a low-income household, are not native English speakers, or have a disability. The "Income and Disability Achievement Gaps" graphs seems to show a higher percentage of non-income disadvantage / disabled students are meeting or exceeding expectations in the wealthy districts than statewide.

nostrademons 1y ago

The low-income story gets most of the airtime because most people are not interested in reading about how rich people are struggling, but there was also a significant decline in affluent districts as well. See eg. this Boston Globe article about how even the top districts in the state (which itself is historically the top in the country) are using poor instructional methods: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/metro/reading-skills-top-ranked-ma-schools/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/10/metro/reading-skills-... https://archive.is/epEe5 https://archive.is/epEe5 I grew up near most of these districts, and and my mom taught in one of them. I was shocked at how low MCAS Reading scores have fallen. I was the first class to take them; it's not a hard test, and it's reportedly gotten even easier in the 30 years since I took it. And yet 30% of students in affluent districts can't pass them. Also we encountered this personally when hiring a babysitter for our kids. She was a college junior, grew up in an adjacent city with $2.5M average house prices, was otherwise great with the kids. She struggled to get through The Lorax - my kindergartner could read it better than her.

ribosometronome 1y ago
I'm still not sure that article supports that rich people are struggling. My take away is that the core point of the article is the achievement gap between rich and poor students, especially in affluent schools. It kind of drives home that the rich kids aren't struggling, really. >Although the kids who are lagging come from all backgrounds, they are disproportionately Black or Latino, live in a low-income household, are not native English speakers, or have a disability. The "Income and Disability Achievement Gaps" graphs seems to show a higher percentage of non-income disadvantage / disabled students are meeting or exceeding expectations in the wealthy districts than statewide.