Worst Student Test Scores In History: The Dumbing Down

The public education within the USA has recorded the lowest student test scores ever in history 8 years after having adopted Bill Gate’s common core indoctrination standards. Average test scores for math plummeted to the lowest in over 2 decades, and readiness in English is at its lowest since the ACT standards were introduced: in 2015 readiness for English was at 46% now in 2018 it is at 40%; readiness in reading has dropped to 46%, and science readiness has dropped to 36%, as published in the Condition of College and Career Readiness 2018 report.

USA high school graduates have produced the lowest math scores in 20 years. Only 40% of 2018 graduates are ready for college level algebra classes, math scores have been plummeting to historically low levels, in 2012 students scored 21.1%, 2017 at 20.7%, 2018 at 20.5%.

ACT testing has not become more harder than it once was either, so that is not the issue. ACT testing is a curriculum based achievement test that surveys schools and determines what is important for success in a first year college course, measuring academic skills that are most important for success after high school.

Over the past 8 years the one size fits all procedures that have been adopted from Bill Gate’s Common Core Program into the public education system appears to be a big part of the problem. This adaptation federalized the education system and coerced school districts with financial incentives from the federal government. Since adaption school districts have lost control over the curriculum, and educators are forced to teach from a nationalized set of core standards. Local teachers do not choose what is on the tests, now nationalized tests decide what is taught in the classrooms. Teachers success is gauged on their ability to teach students to comply, just as they must now comply and concede to common core methods.

The education system has had innovation stifled by this top down approach, individual choice has been taken away and the hands of the actual educators are tied. One size fits all common core standard approaches are not effective to all students, and do not inspire all students or prepare them for the real world. Continuous plunges in ACT score testing shows that students are not getting smarter, in fact it’s the exact opposite. Children are being dumbed down by this controlling system that does not inspire learning at all, there is a major change in schools the past decades along with dropping scores. No longer do the majority of students want to explore the depths of knowledge and reading, they no longer want to ask questions and push boundaries of science, the vast majority are not even prepared to calculate and compute mathematics, and actions such as simply putting cursive hand writing or an analog clock in front of a student poses an unsolvable problems.

Common core methods have abandoned time tested and proven to be effective approaches to solving math problems, and indoctrinates students with “settled science” discouraging students from asking questions and seeking out knowledge on their own. What’s worse is common core is laced with corporate and industry propaganda that pushes a very limited perspective in subjects of social sciences and history which pushes for social justice initiatives that are out of touch with reality and silences those that would have once questioned why. Students are now distracted with screens that do not impart the freedom necessary to explore past boundaries. Rather than expanding the ability to problem solve, develop common sense, ask questions, and pursue knowledge common core is presented in a way to indoctrinate and shut down a free thinking, unique mind.

Adding to this the numbers of medicated children have risen to alarming levels. Over 8 million children are now taking at least one psychiatric medication. What was once just a child being hyperactive needing more physical activity and hobbies can lead to being put on ADHD drugs. This is important to understand as 10 children being diagnosed with ADHD will all have different issues that need to be addressed, but as they exhibit symptoms of inattention and impulsivity they all end up with the same diagnosis, it would seem that pharmaceuticals have taken over mental health storylines in this area, but that does not mean science supports it. This approach to one pill to treat all that has been allowed to take root has been developed and perpetuated by companies that stand to make profit from these medications; evidence continues to grow showing this is flawed and leads to unhappy endings.

All of this doesn’t even take into account the damage that has been done to the brain by poisons such as fluoride which has been shown to lower IQ levels and has over 300 studies showing it to be a neurotoxin. Fluoride interferes with brain functions, development of neurotoxins in the brain are capable of causing widespread brain disorders such as autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and other cognitive impairments. Children are being exposed to unrecognized toxic chemicals such as fluoride, lead, mercury, radiation, pollution, pesticides, growth hormones in foods, GMOs, and other chemicals which damage the brain that silently erode intelligence, disrupt behavior, and truncate future achievements that damage society. Effects of each toxin may seem small, but the combined damage is a serious threat that is damaging brain power of future generations. There are generations of people with brains that do not function as they should due to being poisoned.

Once more all of these common western diets of unhealthy processed foods and drive through windows meals washed down with soda pop and junk food desserts, paired with increasingly inactive and sedentary lifestyles just makes matters drastically worse. Busy parents seem to be abandoning tradition values and are entrusting their precious children to being babysat by the television and mobile devices while eating take out. While some video games may help developing minds, more than often the program of choice is social media which was never designed for young minds and has been linked to sleeping disorders, depression, obesity, anxiety, addiction, and antisocial behaviour to name a few.

Children are crucial to us all, they are the future. Everything should be done to encourage development and nurturing of young minds. Every year the education system takes cuts in federal budgets, this should be an area to never have funding removed, if anything it should get more funding. These scores serve to show the system is drastically flawed, and something needs to be done about the dumbing down. If rates keep falling the USA could very well end up having a future much like that of the world in the 2006 science fiction movie Idiocracy, the great dumbing down, which was once considered to be a comedy but now seems to be more of a scary documentary.

The USA has continued to drop in rankings and dropped 9 positions from the previous year in 2017, unfortunately 2018 is predicted to be even worse. According to the World Top 20 Project with the mission to educate every child on the planet the top 20 best education systems worldwide in 2017 are listed as:

1. South Korea                      
2. Japan                              
3. Russia                             
4. Hong Kong                        
5. China                               
6. United Kingdom               
7. Singapore                         
8. Finland                             
9. Denmark                          
10. Israel 
11. Netherlands 
12. Slovenia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. Norway
16. USA
17. Estonia
18. New Zealand
19. Taiwan
20. Italy