According to the government, federal spending on K-12 education has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, but student performance has essentially stayed the same. Hence, in 2002, President George Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, a bill that promised improved student achievement for all US children. Chance (Fall 2003) reported on a graphic obtained from the US Department of Education Web site (www.ed.gov) that was designed to support the new legislation. The graphic is reproduced below. The bars in the graph represent annual federal spending on education, in billions of dollars (left-side vertical axis). The horizontal line represents the annual average fourth-grade children’s reading ability score (right-side vertical axis). Critically assess the information portrayed in the graph. Does it, in fact, support the government’s position that our children are not making classroom improvements despite federal spending on education? Use the following facts (divulged in the Chance article) to help you frame your answer:  (1) The US student population has also increased dramatically over the past 20 years,  (2) fourth-grade reading test scores are designed to have an average of 250 with a standard deviation of 50, and  (3) the reading test scores of seventh and twelfth graders and the mathematics scores of fourth graders did improve substantially over the past 20 years.

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Constant Dollars (in billions) 22.5 18.0 12.5 9.0 4.5 0.0 Federal Spending on K-12 Education (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) Just 32% of fourth graders read proficiently T 500 400 300 200 100 1966 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 School Year Reading Scores