Large Percentages of American Students Perform Above Grade Level
An additional data point on this issue is from a few years ago, the discovery that students surveyed by the federal National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), known informally as &quot;the Nation&#x27;s Report Card,&quot; often self-report that their school lessons are so easy that school is mostly boring.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.americanprogress.org&#x2F;issues&#x2F;education&#x2F;report&#x2F;2012&#x2F;07&#x2F;10&#x2F;11913&#x2F;do-schools-challenge-our-students&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.americanprogress.org&#x2F;issues&#x2F;education&#x2F;report&#x2F;201...</a><p>On my part, having lived in another country (Taiwan), I have long suspected that most United States pupils could handle more challenging school lessons, if only those were on offer in United States schools. For example, in almost every other country in the world, it is routine for pupils to begin foreign language study while still in elementary school, and in many countries (including Taiwan and Singapore, a generation ago) the majority of school pupils are attending school with a language of instruction that is not the same as the language they speak at home with their parents. Yet most United States high school graduates are resolutely monolingual English speakers, unless they grew up with another home language besides English. International comparisons suggest that there is still plenty of room at the top for achievable higher standards for United States students, and that students would enjoy school better if their lessons were more challenging.