Only 22% of California 8th Graders Pass National Science Test

bonch writes "22 percent of California eighth-graders passed a national science test, ranking California among the worst in the U.S. according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress. The test measures knowledge in Earth and space sciences, biology, and basic physics. The states that fared worse than California were Mississippi, Alabama, and a tie between the District of Columbia and Hawaii. 'Nationally, 31 percent of eighth-graders who were tested scored proficient or advanced. Both the national and state scores improved slightly over scores from two years ago, the last time the test was administered.'"

Comments

What's the percentage for Slashdoters? Seriously.

[pantera]

Can someone post the test here. I think it would be really interesting to see what percent of Slashdot readers can pass the test.

Re:Makes no sense

[swx2]

While i'm from MA, and I'm quite happy that my state is tied for first... but... 44%????? Only 44% of the kids tested passed the test, and it somehow tie for FIRST among the nation? If this was a test, then all 50 people (state) in the class (country) have failed. This is not good news :/

Re:Makes no sense

[ShanghaiBill]

That's a good thing.

No it is not! And I say that as a fiscally conservative Californian.

Governments have a natural bias to raise taxes and run up debts. So it is reasonable to require a super-majority to do these. But the problem in California, is that we require a super-majority just to pass a budget, even if that budget is restrained and balanced. That just leads to permanent gridlock, and since we are heading off a fiscal cliff, locking the steering wheel in place is not a good idea (hows that for a car analogy).

Re:Standards mean competition.

[The Mister Purple]

Every school teacher I have ever spoken with on the subject agrees: involved parents generally mean good students, uninvolved parents make for taxpayer-funded daycare until age 18.