CNYC:
Yeah, not buying that. English language proficiency and math are the basics for most of these tests. Not many big moves in the last few decades to add to the K-12 experience.
Also, hacking out bad Powerpoint briefings by elementary school kids is not exactly Earth-shattering new material. More likely a waster of classroom time and part of the problem.
OK, here you go:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, U.S. history, and beginning in 2014, in Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL).
Really, not all that much different in content between a 1970 test and a 2010 test, unless one biases the test heavily toward present/current developments:
* civics, US Hist: +43 years , ~+22% of content. (Assuming start point of 1776AD)
* arts, science, econ, math, geography: +43 years, ~+2.2% of content. (Assuming start point 1AD)
* writing, reading: +43 years , ~+3.2% of content. (Assuming start point of 700AD)
Imagine if you will, a society which spent 100% more on education, and because of that, their high-schoolers were now learning what 40 years ago you had to go to college to learn. What would this graph look like?
Like a fiction,
as such a thing has not happened.
Actually, the reverse has happened. My great grandfather was learned enough to sit on the local school board, despite (because?) of his 8th grade education. Which, to judge by his battered English grammar & comp text, was equal to if not superior than the advanced 12th grade E&C text I used my senior year in public HS. His daughter was learned enough with a 2 years associate's degree to teach K-12. I was employable with a 4-year degree and promotable with another 2 years and a graduate degree.
I would not be surprised to see a study showing that an early 20th century grammar school education roughly equivalent to an early 21st century 4-year degree when comparing math and English (writing, lit, grammar). And that the sciences and history lag only due to the science and history that had yet to happen...but the depth of the science and history taught in the early 20th century grammar school education was superior. Don't even get me started on geography.