State education leaders recently lowered a significant set of long-term academic achievement goals that students have consistently failed to meet.
IdahoEdNews.org reports that according to the state’s consolidated plan, the scaled-back goals are meant to be “ambitious yet achievable” and to close or narrow persistent academic achievement gaps.
The new goals pertain to graduation rates, math and English language arts proficiency levels on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test, and English learners’ progress toward language proficiency.
The goals are federally required and are tied to federal dollars.
Already, the new benchmarks are proving to be achievable: For the first time this spring, Idaho students exceeded state goals for math and English proficiency.
Yet, the goals are not necessarily an easy target.
They call for slow, steady progress over the next seven years in academic areas where student progress has been stagnant or up and down.
