When the U.S. is spending money on sending students to wars or to jails (new tracking), are the numbers of American Fourth Graders Reading at or Above Grade Level in 2005 surprising?

· Asian American or Pacific Islander – 40 percent
· White – 39 percent
· American Indian – 19 percent
· Latino – 15 percent
· Black – 12 percent

Now these numbers are likely based on standardized test scores which really don’t represent how well a student can read, but rather how well a student can take a test.

Pero that said, from years of volunteering with elementary school children, part of the problem is the new reading systems that don’t actually teach the basics of phonetics or critical thinking are being taught in schools, combined with a lack of extra help for students who need it and other kids being pulled out of the classroom for help they don’t need and never being able to catch up. It doesn’t help that elementary public school classrooms are overcrowded so children fall through the cracks.

Via / Hispanic Tips