September 5, 2008
Our kids are back in school, both at the K-12 and collegiate levels, and that means this is a good time of the year for all of us to reflect on how important education is.
Education is the great equalizer. Education is more important than ever because our kids will be competing in a global, free market economy and in a technology driven, knowledge based society.
When our kids become young adults entering the workforce, the challenges for them will be different than those we faced. Innovation, creativity, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning will be skills that will be important for their success.
Every young adult is going to need more education and more basic skills. At least two years of college, preferably four years, will be a necessity for the workforce of the twenty-first century.
In that regard, recent ACT scores indicate that Nebraska students continue to do well. Last year, ten Nebraska students obtained a perfect score on the ACT and we honored those students at several news conferences.
Comparing results among states is difficult because the number of students taking the ACT varies dramatically from state to state. In Maine, only 9% of the students took the test while in Colorado and Michigan, 100% of the students took the ACT.
In Nebraska, 72% of our students took the ACT exam. In 15 states, more than 70% of the students took the ACT. Among those states, Nebraska students scored the highest with an average ACT score of 22.1.
That’s the good news but as we know, the devil is in the details. Overall, our scores look good. However, there is an educational achievement gap that needs to be addressed.
Over the last five years, ACT scores for Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Caucasian Americans and Hispanics all improved. Native American scores increased from 18.7 to 19.1; Asian-Americans 21.5 to 22.9; Caucasian Americans 22.0 to 22.5 and Hispanics increased from 18.7 to 19.5.
Unfortunately, African American scores went from 17.7 to 17.5. This educational achievement gap must not be ignored. It needs to be addressed now, especially by the Omaha Public Schools.
Poverty, mobility, family structure and other issues all impact the education of our children. The bottom line is every child deserves a quality education.
The first, best and most important teacher of our children is us, the parents. We need to prepare our children for school from kindergarten to college. As parents, we need to emphasize the value of an education.
Teachers and school administrators are key once our kids are in school. In Nebraska, we have good teachers and good administrators. I know many of them personally because my wife was an elementary school principal and teacher for more than thirty years.
In reviewing ACT scores in detail, one final issue should be noted. Students across all races scored significantly better if they had taken a core curriculum of four years of English, and three years of math, social studies and science.
