Every two years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, popularly known as the Nation’s Report Card, is administered to a representative sample of 4th and 8th graders in the 50 states, and to a growing number of the nation’s largest urban or county school systems.
The tests of reading and math are also taken by the children of American military personnel, who attend government-sponsored, K-12 schools, either domestically or overseas. These “Department of Defense Education Activity” (DoDEA) schools educate 70,000 students.
The best-kept secret in American pre-college education is that these military-educated students have the highest scores on these four tests, and the smallest racial, ethnic and gender achievement gaps.
Their demographics for 8th graders are also highly commendable: White, 43%; Hispanic, 22%; Multiracial, 13%; Black, 12%; and Asian, 7%.
Tragically, President Joe Biden and the Pentagon’s top leaders, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley and Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday, are currently pushing “Critical Race Theory” and “White Rage” indoctrination in the armed forces, at West Point and the Naval Academy.
In 2019, on the 8th grade reading exam, the national average for public-school students is 262, while the score for DoDEA schools is 280.
Ranking behind the military schools are Massachusetts, 273; New Jersey and Connecticut, 270; and Vermont and New Hampshire, 268.
The lowest ranking states/jurisdictions are: District of Columbia (250); New Mexico; Alaska; Alabama; and West Virginia, Texas and Mississippi (256).
For the 27 urban or county school districts, including New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, the average is an even more deplorable 255.
Since 12 points on the Nation’s Report Card equals roughly one grade level, 8th graders at DoDEA schools are reading 1.5 years ahead of the nation’s average for the public-school cohort.
They are two grades ahead of their contemporaries in the urban or county districts.
Among the urban or county districts, the highest scoring are : San Diego, 266; Miami-Dade (Fla.); Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (N.C.); Hillsborough County (Fla.); and Guilford (N.C.), Jefferson County (Ky.), and Duval County (Fla.), 258.
The dysfunctional, lowest-scoring are: Detroit, 232; Milwaukee; Baltimore City; Dallas; Cleveland; Fresno; and Fort Worth (Texas) and Philadelphia, 243.
The unfortunate 8th graders, trapped in these eight abysmal urban schools, most of which are controlled by incompetent Democratic politicians, are three to four years behind, in reading proficiency, their counterparts at DoDEA schools.
Indeed, there is an unrecognized reading crisis in the nation’s public schools, especially among male students. In 8th grade reading, females outscore males 268 to 256, by 12 points, or one grade level.
By contrast, among 8th graders in DoDEA schools, the gender gap is 8 points favoring females: 284 to 276.
Therefore, males at military schools are 20 points, or 1.7 years, ahead in reading of their counterparts at the nation’s public schools.
Next up, is the eighth-grade math exam in 2019. The national average for the nation’s public schools is 281, and 274 for the 27 urban or country districts.
The national math score for this cohort is 19 points higher than the reading score of 262.
Top-scoring states/jurisdictions are: Massachusetts, 294; DoDEA and New Jersey, 292; Minnesota, 291; and Wisconsin, 289.
Lowest scoring states/jurisdictions are: Puerto Rico, 222; Alabama, New Mexico and District of Columbia, 269; and Louisiana and West Virginia, 272.
Highest scoring city or county districts in 8th grade math are: Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, 288; San Diego; Austin; Guilford County; and Boston, 279.
Lowest scoring city or county districts are: Detroit, 244; Milwaukee; Cleveland; Fresno; Baltimore City; and Philadelphia, 256.
National public-school scores, on the 8th grade math exam, by race, ethnicity and gender, are: Asians, 313; Whites, 291; Multiracial Students, 285; Hispanics 268; and Blacks, 259.
Females scored 282 and males 280, and this 2-point difference is statistically insignificant.
For DoDEA schools, the scores are: Asians, 305; Whites, 298; Multiracial Students, 294; Hispanics, 285; and Blacks, 276.
Therefore, among America’s public-school 8th graders, Blacks trail Whites by 32 points, or 2.7 grades.
Hispanics lag Whites by 23 points, or two grade levels.
By contrast, in DoDEA schools, Blacks are behind Whites by 22 points, or 1.8 grades.
Hispanics trail Whites by 13 points, or one grade.
Thirdly, is the 4th grade math in 2019, on which the national public average is 240, and for the 27 urban or county systems, 235.
The scores for the leading states/jurisdictions are: DoDEA, 250; Minnesota, 248; Massachusetts and Virginia, 247; and Florida, New Jersey and Wyoming, 246.
Fourthly, on the 4th grade reading exam in 2019, the national public-school average score is 219, or an mind-boggling 21 points lower than the 240 in math for this cohort.
Females scored 223 and males 216.
For the large urban or county districts, it is an even more reprehensible 212.
The leading states/jurisdictions are: DoDEA 235; Massachusetts, 231; New Jersey and Wyoming, 227; and Colorado, Florida and Utah, 225.
The lowest-scoring are: Alaska, 204; New Mexico; Louisiana; Alabama; West Virginia; and District of Columbia, 214.
The highest scoring urban or county systems, in 4th grade reading, are: Charlotte-Mecklenburg County and Miami-Dade, 225; Hillsborough County; San Diego; Duval County; and Guilford County, 218.
The lowest-scoring urban dystopias are: Detroit, 183; Milwaukee, 190; Baltimore City, 193; Cleveland, 196; Philadelphia, 197; and Dallas, 203.
In short, the Department of Defense’s K-12 schools proudly lead the nation, in math and reading, because they have rejected, until now, the Radical Left ideologies, which have destroyed, beginning in the late 1960’s, many formerly first-rate urban public-school districts, including those of Philadelphia, Detroit, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The author was licensed to teach English for both 8th and 4th grades.
Mark Schulte is a retired New York City schoolteacher and mathematician who has written extensively about science and the history of science. Read Mark Schulte's Reports — More Here.
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