Comments on: Understatement: ‘Oklahoma Students Fail’

By: soma

soma — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:54:28 +0000

This is a known hoax: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html

The real idiocracy here is that anyone would fall for such obvious nonsense. Do you really think not a single student in 1,000 would get at least 8 questions right? Did you even look at that table before posting it?

By: Nate Silver declares war; or, how can Oklahoma students be this stupid? « The Unpersons

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:32:38 +0000

[...] Another issue was how the poll was administered. The students were polled over the phone, and were given no options. I’m sure that the results would be much better if it were a written multiple choice exam. Also, students were told that answering “I don’t know” was ok, so you have that answer vary per question from 10% to 58%. Also, the students couldn’t have felt that much was on the line by taking this random poll. So you can imagine students either not bothering to answer questions they knew, or intentionally giving wrong answers, as suggested by the 11% who answered that the two major political parties in the U.S. were “Communist and Republican.” (You can view the answer distributions here). [...]

By: jasong

jasong — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:08:30 +0000

The problem isn't just with the kids:

According to a study funded by The Jenkins Group, a publishing company, one-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives after they finish school. NEVER! Not one book! They go from 18 years old to the grave without ever reading another book. If you think the one-third merely represents the unmotivated dimwits, think again. The study also found that 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

Beyond those who aren't willing, there are those who aren't able:

an estimated 32 million adults in the USA — about one in seven — are saddled with such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children's picture book or to understand a medication's side effects listed on a pill bottle.

"Information is the currency of democracy." (Thomas Jefferson)

By: The Woodwork » Blog Archive » Terry takes the Oklahoma Civics Test

The Woodwork » Blog Archive » Terry takes the Oklahoma Civics Test — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:05:32 +0000

[...] I’m so disappointed, because with these answers, I’d totally have rocked in Oklahoma. [...]

By: So much concentrated sucking stupidity… « The Rude Kitty

So much concentrated sucking stupidity… « The Rude Kitty — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:05:58 +0000

[...] So much concentrated sucking stupidity… Only 19% of American high school students know that George Washington was the first President of the… [...]

By: Jessica Faye Carter

Jessica Faye Carter — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:54:49 +0000

This is astonishing. Are we sure it’s not a hoax?

By: Where does your state rank? « A Man With A Ph.D.

Where does your state rank? « A Man With A Ph.D. — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:45:19 +0000

[...] Where does your state rank? September 18, 2009 — Richard Now With More Molecules!: [Via Balloon Juice] Q: Is our children learning? [...]

By: cooper

cooper — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:57:43 +0000

We can hope that because it was a phone survey the respondents were pulling someone’s leg. I mean this is abysmal. If true we should be frightened.

By: gracenearing

gracenearing — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:28:56 +0000

Wish they had tested the parents of these HS kids as well. It would have been interesting to see if there were any correlation between the test scores of parents and child.

By: O-K-L-A-H-O-M-What? « Around The Sphere

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-What? « Around The Sphere — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:38:52 +0000

[...] We steal the chart from Jeff Hoard: [...]