How precisely well or deficiently did students do on the latest round of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments? While there were pockets of progress, superseding them, for example, was the failure of nearly two-thirds of high school juniors to meet state standards in math. And as is routinely and dangerously true across the country, not just in Minnesota, students of color on the whole did substantially worse than their white counterparts.
Nothing here should be read as letting any adult off any hook. This applies to educators, parents and everybody else on the autumn side of 18. But very much on the hook are students, as I would ask them to consider what they might do exclusively on their own to learn more and perform better.
Might they be willing to read just one more, reasonably serious book per semester? For students who never read any books, serious or otherwise, might they be persuaded to start and finish one? It's impossible to believe such simple efforts wouldn't show up in aggregate reading scores, at least modestly.
How about actually doing homework when it's assigned? Yes, plenty of students do so scrupulously, but plenty of others, let's say, do so spottily. Again, I know the terrain well.
About 20 years ago I became intrigued by the number of students showing up on Monday mornings at a certain St. Paul high school without any backpack, briefcase or any other means of carrying books. It was prima facie evidence that either they weren't given any weekend homework or they blew it off. Assuming the latter for current purposes, it's a problem that can be fixed without the aid of a single policy breakthrough or extra tax dollar.
Some people are not terribly fond of what might be described as "bootstraps" arguments like these. They contend, for instance, that obstacles faced by young people -- especially those who are poor and minority -- are powerful and systemic and, therefore, beyond the reach or remedy of mere individuals.
