The Opportunity Myth

What happens when a research team partners with diverse school systems and takes the time to listen to the students' views, experiences and thoughts. This is a TNTP project explains that the opportunity myth is a promise that success in school, a diploma, is the launch for success in life.  They found that the educational system is flawed.

FASCINATING! 

Link to the Website 

"On the whole, then, most students we studied were “doing well” in school—one of the most important keys to success later in life, according to American mythology. But when we looked at how these students were doing based on the bar set by actual standards for college readiness—the bar students themselves said they aspired to—the opportunity myth emerged. While students succeeded on more than two-thirds of their assignments, they only demonstrated success against the grade level standards 17 percent of the time on those exact same assignments." 

"That gap exists because so few assignments actually gave students a chance to demonstrate grade-level mastery. To be clear, “grade-level mastery” doesn’t mean students must have read a particular list of books. It means they have had the chance to practice a core set of grade-level-appropriate competencies for processing information, thinking critically about texts, and solving problems using evidence. Those are essential skills that can make the difference between graduating ready for college or the workplace, or not."