The New Jersey Assembly recently moved to eliminate the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment, joining a troubling national trend of states that now allow students to graduate from high school without any objective evidence that they have mastered the minimal skills necessary for future success.
Diluting academic standards, reducing cut scores or eliminating test-based performance measures altogether are tried-and-true features of administrations that want to give the appearance of progress without doing the often politically fraught work of actually advancing student learning.
Proponents frame this as a move to reduce student stress or promote a more holistic education. But let’s call it what it is: a retreat from a commitment to educational equity.
As a former New Jersey commissioner of education, superintendent of Newark Public Schools and New York City deputy schools chancellor, I have seen firsthand that the most radical, yet necessary, reform states can pursue is an unwavering insistence on equal and high standards for all children regardless of where they live or how much money their families have. Handing out diplomas disconnected from proficiency is a profound error. Students are more than capable of meeting high bars, and policies must reflect that belief.
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A.B.T.: “Ain’t been taught.”
8,897 (!) Madison 4k to 3rd grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group during the 2024-2025 school year.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $26,000 per student) K-12 tax & spending practices. This, despite long term, disastrous reading results.
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?