We expect better

According to “ACT scores signal trouble for students” (News, Oct. 17): 84 percent of Oklahoma high school graduates will likely not pass with a grade

C or higher at least one of the first-year college courses in English, math, reading or science. This alarming prediction is based on ACT scores for the most recent high school graduates of which 100 percent were said to be tested. That is a colossal failure.

To make matters worse, it doesn’t appear a solution is at hand or the problem is understood. State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said, “Oklahoma’s commitment to offer every high school student in our public schools access to a high-value assessment at no cost … ensures that educators are equipped with important information on how to prepare our students for college and career.” Where is this important information to be found? A search of the ACT website has a mountain of information related to test results and test preparation at a cost, but little help for educators.

So why did students perform so poorly? Was the poor performance caused by low standards in Oklahoma, poor instruction, poor grading practices, social promotions, or something else? This is not explained by ACT. Further, the pool of ACT data is not broken down by type school (public, nonpublic, online, home school, etc.), by school district, or by school.

Public education has the attention of the voters and taxpayers. We expect better than this!

William Edwards, Oklahoma City