Dumbing down

Wisconsin prides itself on its commitment to K-12 education, but a disturbing new report from the U.S. Department of Education suggests that we may be fooling ourselves about how good a job we are doing.

The report compares how well students are doing according to state standards with how well they are doing according to national standards.

For example, based on 2005 data, 83 percent of Wisconsin fourth graders are proficient in reading. But according to a national definition of reading proficiency, only 33 meet the standard. See complete comparisons here.