Graduation inflation is definitely a problem. Because so many state base school ratings on graduation rates, schools are often unwilling to enforce rigor in the classroom. I saw this happen when Texas began the "four by four" scenario designed to make all students take four years of Language Arts, Science, Math and Social Studies. The fear of having low income or minority students face hard classes that would limit their graduation rates drives this-which in and of itself is racist since it assumes such students cannot succeed. In the meantime, administrators at every level use cosmetic solutions like screens and gadgets to give the appearance of solving the problems, when that often just makes it worse.
I can tell you from first hand observation, that the students I have now lack the vocabulary and reasoning skills to do what the same level of students accomplished just five years ago. They are not prepared for college. They have little self-reliance because the main message they get from parents and administrators is that they can always go back and do things over with no penalty. I see terrible trouble ahead and it's all in the hands of educational bureaucrats who are more concerned with keeping their jobs than educating our kids.
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