Los Angeles Times LTTE

From The Political Carnival.

    Re "State sees a surprise drop in test scores," Aug. 9

    John Rogers, a professor in UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, is right: There shouldn't be too much concern about tiny changes in standardized test scores.

    If we are interested in real gains, let's attack the real problem: poverty. Nearly one-quarter of children in the U.S. live in poverty, which means inadequate diet, lack of healthcare and little or no access to books. The best teaching in the world is of little help when students are hungry, ill and have nothing to read.

    Forget the untested, expensive Common Core curriculum standards. Let's invest more in food programs, healthcare and libraries.

    Stephen Krashen

    Los Angeles

    The writer is a professor emeritus of education at USC.