Sec. 2. Findings
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/bill/114/hr/2105/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: International comparisons indicate that students in the United States do not start out behind students of other nations in mathematics and science, but that they fall behind by the end of the middle grades. Approximately 64 percent of students in grade 8 read below the proficient level on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress. A little over one-third of students in grade 8 in the United States, and approximately 3 percent of such students who are English language learners, can read with proficiency, according to the 2013 National Assessment on Educational Progress (referred to in this section as NAEP ).
In mathematics, 35 percent of students in grade 8 show skills at or above the NAEP proficient level in 2013. However, the percentage of students in grade 4 at the NAEP proficient and above level was 42 percent. In grade 8, the gaps between the average mathematics scores of White and Black students and between White and Hispanic students were approximately as wide in 2013 as in 2009. Combining measures of academic achievement and motivation, social engagement, and self-regulation—the behavioral domains essential for success across the school and work continuum—provides a more holistic picture of students, including their likelihood of enrolling in college following high school graduation.
This information, available in middle school, allows for early identification of and intervention with students who may be less likely to complete secondary school and attend an institution of higher education. Higher education readiness should begin in middle school. A student in grade 8 has at least a 75-percent chance of dropping out of secondary school if the student attended school less than 80 percent of the time in grade 8 and failed English or mathematics in that grade.
Middle grades students are hopeful about their future, with 93 percent believing that they will complete secondary school and 90 percent believing they will find a good job after high school graduation. Students who do not attend school regularly, who are subjected to frequent disciplinary actions, or who fail mathematics or English have less than a 15-percent chance of graduating secondary school on time and a 20-percent chance of graduating 1 year late. Without effective interventions and proper supports, these students are at risk of subsequent failure in secondary school, or of dropping out.
Student transitions from elementary school to the middle grades and to secondary school are often complicated by poor curriculum alignment, inadequate counseling services, and unsatisfactory sharing of student performance and academic achievement data between grades. Middle grades improvement strategies should be tailored based on a variety of performance indicators and data, so that educators can create and implement successful school improvement strategies to address the needs of the middle grades, and so that teachers can provide effective instruction and adequate assistance to meet the needs of at-risk students.
To stem a secondary school dropout rate nearly 3 times the average— students with disabilities in the critical middle grades must receive appropriate academic accommodations and access to assistive technology; high-risk behaviors in such students, such as chronic absenteeism and course failure, must be monitored; and problem-solving skills with broad application must be taught to such students. Local educational agencies and State educational agencies often do not have the capacity to provide support for school improvement strategies.
Successful models do exist for turning around low-performing middle grades, and Federal support should be provided to increase the capacity to apply promising practices based on evidence from successful schools.