Roots of Low Achievement

The chief purpose of this book is to explain how public education in this country became dysfunctional as a result of the education policies and programs funded by the federal government to address low academic achievement. It highlights student effort as a central factor in academic achievement, based on research noting its significance. Teachers and school administrators cannot make children ready for college or career by grade 12 if their parents do not make them ready for school learning by kindergarten or grade 1.
Once both the schools and students' parents together made students ready for membership in our civic culture. They learned they were politically equal to each other, with a shared civic identity, regardless of academic achievement. Yet, policy makers at USED and philanthropists in this country with a professed interest in the education of low achievers want low achievers to believe that their academic status is all that matters and that they haven't succeeded academically because of bigoted teachers, administrators, and communities. Parent/school partnerships need to revive their community's agreed-upon mission for public education if we are to alter the roots of low achievement in this country.

Sandra Stotsky, professor of education emerita, University of Arkansas, was senior associate commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from 1999 to 2003, in charge of developing or revising K-12 standards in all major subjects, teacher and administrator licensing regulations, teacher licensure tests, and professional development criteria. She served on the Common Core Validation Committee from 2009 to 2010 but refused to sign off on these standards on the grounds that they were not (1) research-based, (2) internationally benchmarked, or (3) rigorous.