Colleges are ripping off poorly prepared students, charges Walter Williams, a George Mason economics professor, in the Daily Signal. “Only 37 percent of 12th-graders tested proficient or better in reading, and only 25 percent did so in math,” on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Williams points out. “Among black students, only 17 percent tested proficient or better in reading, and just 7 percent reached at least a proficient level in math.” Yet most of the

Once upon a time, 45 states adopted Common Core standards and exams — either the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) or Smarter Balanced — writes Tracy Dell’Angela in Education Post. There was “some shared understanding of what grade-level proficiency really looks like from Nevada to New Jersey.” That consensus has shattered. Illinois plans to replace PARCC with a state-designed exam, reports Stephen Sawchuk in Ed Week. The PARCC consortia