Mind the gap: 86% graduate in DC, 15% meet math standards

High school graduation rates are higher than ever, while math proficiency is lower. Tennessee schools boast a 92 percent graduation rate, writes Chad Aldeman, but only 29 percent of students met the state’s expectations in Algebra and Geometry. In Rhode Island, 84 percent earn a diploma in four years; 23 percent meet college-ready benchmarks in math on the SAT. Across the nation, the gap between graduation rates and math proficiency is huge, he writes, after crunching the numbers for a Collaborative for Student Success project called The Graduation Gap. Every state's graduation-gap data is here.

Washington, D.C. has the largest gap: 86 percent of students graduate within four years, but only 15 percent meet or exceed expectations on their Algebra I, Algebra II, or Geometry exams.

Gaps are larger in math than they are in reading, Aldeman writes. "The gaps also tend to be even larger for low-income students, English Learners, and students with disabilities."

Lowering graduation rates to match proficiency isn't the answer, writes Aldeman. "Nor is it to lower the bar for math proficiency, as a couple states have done (I’m looking at you, Texas and Virginia)." He'd like to see "a more honest conversation about readiness, timely intervention, and what students need before they walk across the stage."

Many students and their parents think the diploma means they're prepared for college or a career. The unprepared get a rude lesson when they try to qualify for job training or pass a community college class.

Graduation rates have risen to nearly 85 percent in Minnesota, reports Corin Hoggard for Fox9 News. But standardized test scores are down. Are students ready? Maybe not.

Aldeman also writes about the huge gap between teens who are "flourishing" and the majority who are brain-rotting.

"Some kids are busy," he writes. They're taking advanced classes, volunteering and playing a sport, acting in school plays, marching in the band or competing in robotics. The students who earn A's and B's spend more time on homework and with friends and on reading for pleasure, reports a 50CAN survey.

But many aren't overscheduled, he writes. "They don’t have as much homework as their peers did in the past. They don’t have jobs." They're less likely to play sports or to volunteer. D and F students are spending more time playing video games, scrolling on their phones or looking at social media.