If re-legislated, the DOE can become a powerful national asset for K–12 student performance.
Congress can rewrite the U.S. Department of Education to end decades of underperformance disclosed by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results. Click this U.S. Department of Education link to see guidelines for Congress to consider.
The U.S. Department of Education must be accountable through hard-number results—directly tied to measurable K–12 student performance nationwide (with NAEP as only one of a suite of critical metrics).
There must be continuous outreach for innovation to enhance K–12 student performance—followed by systematic due diligence, judgment, implementation, and testing.
For example, Congress could direct the DOE to implement, test, and fund the free-access HSe4Metrics platform.
Or Congress could designate another federal agency—such as the U.S. Department of Labor or NASA—to serve as the platform’s funding sponsor and provide those functions.
As with any innovation, outcomes are not known until implementation and testing occur.
The HSe4Metrics platform is a societal innovation focused on K–12 student performance. Outcomes would be verifiable through hard-number results, including metrics such as NAEP.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE), launched in 1980 nearly 17 years after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, did not carry forward Kennedy’s urgent call to improve nationwide K–12 student performance. Click the John F. Kennedy link for his vision.
Before clicking on links such as Best K-12 System in the World, U.S. Department of Education, Societal Innovation, and NAEP, become familiar with this explainer site’s homepage.
(This explainer site is not the HSe4Metrics platform innovation—this site would be of no interest to students.)
The nation’s K–12 teachers are not at fault. In fact, the U.S. public K–12 system, along with its teachers, may be regarded by other nations as one of the best in the world—if not the best.
After all, the U.S. K–12 system arguably operates at a scale and diversity level far beyond that of the 30 countries ranked ahead of it by the World Population Review (WPR). Click Best K–12 System in the World to see the WPR global K–12 rankings, and then scroll to the subtitle “The ‘Best in the World’ contradiction” for additional perspective.
That is, despite the staggering reality disclosed by the U.S.’s NAEP assessments, the global community nonetheless recognizes the remarkable ability of the U.S. K–12 system to prepare an extraordinarily diverse population of students for success in U.S. colleges and universities.
Is COVID the culprit?
No, COVID did not cause the NAEP assessments crisis. Before COVID (in late 2019), only about 37% of U.S. 12th-grade students reached minimum proficiency on NAEP in reading, and only about 25% reached it in math.
The post-COVID reality is worse—but even at the 50% figure sometimes cited by Big Media, the blow to the nation’s socioeconomics, GDP, quality of life, and human capital is staggering.
Today, the rates are even lower—approximately 25% for reading and 24% for math (click the NAEP link).
A “forever” K–12 failure by the states overall.
Overall national results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—as often reported by major media—suggest that the states collectively leave roughly half of the nation’s K–12 students below proficiency in reading or math.
Although 50% is arguably catastrophic, the reality may be even worse—click the NAEP link.
Even states that perform well on NAEP may still fall short on other critical measures, such as cap rate (the extent to which individuals fully capitalize on their abilities), potentially placing students at a lifelong disadvantage.
A “forever” K–12 failure by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE)—but one that can be structurally corrected.
A time for Congress.
Congress can unleash an extraordinary level of pent-up K–12 student performance across the United States simply by re-legislating the founding documents of the U.S. Department of Education. (Click the link.)
Such a rewrite would position the DOE as an unparalleled national asset–singularly focused on advancing K–12 student performance.
Theoretically, any of the federal agencies—whether the DOE, the Department of Labor (DOL), another cabinet-level executive department, or an independent agency such as the National Science Foundation—could serve as sponsor of the free-access HSe4Metrics platform or other innovations.
However, aside from the DOE, none could make K–12 student performance its singular focus. Ironically, even the DOE does not currently do so—but it could if re-legislated by Congress.
If housed within another agency, K–12 student performance would necessarily remain secondary to that agency’s primary mission, creating a risk of mission dilution in efforts to remake nationwide K–12 student performance.
Help HSe4Metrics connect with a federal agency (click the link Federal Agencies) willing to conduct due diligence and evaluate sponsorship of the HSe4Metrics platform—or a member of Congress prepared to lead on strengthening K-12 student performance nationwide
If this explainer site’s outreach does not identify such an agency or congressional leader, a fundraising campaign may be launched—potentially supported by Google—to retain a professional presentation team
That team would be tasked with identifying and approaching appropriate federal leaders. Rather than relying on volunteers and parents, it would consist of experienced Washington-based policy consultants and government-relations professionals
A significant share of U.S. K–12 graduates fall below proficiency in reading and mathematics, as reflected in national assessments such as NAEP. Many are viewed by advanced industries as insufficiently educated to be trained for skilled roles
These outcomes developed without access to a tool like the HSe4Metrics platform—during both the early childhood years and throughout K–12
The HSe4Metrics innovation is designed to address this gap. If validated through disciplined, large-scale testing, it has the potential to significantly expand the nation’s qualified, homegrown workforce—while better preparing students for success in higher education
This approach stands in contrast to conventionally structured efforts such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act, which did not produce sustained national gains in student performance
Specifically, Jamie Dimon advocates for societal innovation—innovation intended to serve the public good, rather than purely industry-focused objectives.
He notes that implementing such innovation—even for one as vital as U.S. K–12 student performance—can require uncommon courage for two reasons: costs may seem prohibitive, and there is no guarantee of success.
The CEOs of industry giants face the same agonizing implementation decisions as leaders of the nation’s major federal agencies.
A third daunting constraint—this one for the HSe4Metrics platform: access must be free.
K–12 students and parents cannot be expected to fund the platform. Hence, neither a corporate sponsor nor a sponsoring federal agency can recover costs through fees paid by K–12 students or their families.
Clearly, a corporate or federal sponsor must have other reasons for assuming that role. For those reasons, click the Sponsor link.
Among them, at least theoretically, every federal agency and top-tier corporation shares a broader obligation to support societal innovation—a compelling example being the nation’s K–12 student performance.
For example, can the homegrown workforce deemed sufficiently educated to be trainable for advanced manufacturing be doubled?
Both the homegrown workforce and the skilled worker deficit are among the hard-number metrics fundamental to the HSe4Metrics platform.
Keep in mind that the untapped population required for massive homegrown workforce transformation already exists: the nation’s forfeited bottom 50% of students identified by NAEP assessments, along with those performing only marginally above minimum proficiency.
To reach that untapped population, consider a Congressional rewrite of the DOE’s founding legislation—with a preeminent focus on innovation. (Click the U.S. Department of Education link to see guidelines Congress may wish to consider.)
Every traditional, administrative, and “white paper” approach to K–12 student performance has left NAEP results largely where they stand today. (Click NAEP.)
Can the Marshall Plan model be applied to nationwide K–12 student performance?
Yes—and arguably, it should.
The Marshall Plan proved highly effective when launched in 1948 by George C. Marshall to help rebuild Western Europe. Today, the Marshall Plan model is often invoked when discussing high-cost, high-impact national investments addressing systemic challenges, including infrastructure and climate.
The question is simple: does K–12 student performance warrant that level of national importance?
As one of the opening slides notes, “The 50 states—as a whole—leave roughly half of all K–12 students behind.” Unfortunately, NAEP results are similarly concerning across other periodically assessed subjects, including science, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.
Just over a decade ago, Mississippi brought intense, legislated focus to one of those NAEP categories—reading. It was a conscientious, celebrated effort.
But a decade is a decade. Jamie Dimon stresses that solving the seemingly unsolvable—and achieving urgently needed societal progress—may require sudden, fast, and inclusive change driven by innovation. Conversely, slow, incremental change not accompanied by innovation may represent priceless opportunity lost from one K–12 cycle to the next—a loss that can become a lifetime burden.
Yes, over that ten-plus-year period, Mississippi’s fourth-grade reading results improved from near the bottom nationally to among the top performers. (Click the Mississippi Miracle link.) The state’s eighth-grade NAEP results have thus far remained largely unchanged.
While at the Mississippi Miracle link, consider “The elephant in the room has a cousin, Hawthorne.”
The issue: improving one metric at a time is valuable in its own right—but what about all the other metrics requiring immediate attention? What if they could be addressed simultaneously, with forceful, all-at-once impact? That’s innovation.
Parents asking that the federal government study the HSe4Metrics platform and meet with them have long been rebuffed.
However, lobbyists and top Washington, D.C. law firms specialize in doing what these parents often cannot: opening doors at the federal level and helping major initiatives gain serious consideration.
Lobbyists and law firms are being asked whether they will work pro bono. Thus far, none have accepted.
If lobbyists cannot work pro bono, a $5 fundraising campaign can be launched to retain them
Lobbyists and a legal team would compose a presentation team. Together with parents, students, and other volunteers, the presentation team would approach Members of Congress and federal agencies.
Click to see the $5 fundraising example midway down the Funding (By the Sponsor) page.
NO CAMPAIGN AT THIS TIME. NO DONATIONS ACCEPTED AS HSE4METRICS AWAITS PRIVATE FOUNDATION STATUS.
Pro bono works fine. The HSe4Metrics platform has secured an additional form of pro bono support: a top-100 U.S. law firm is assisting with the conversion of HSe4Metrics from its current SCC status (held since April 2000) to a 501(c)(3) private foundation
Until this conversion process is complete, HSe4Metrics intends to delay any public fundraising efforts aimed at retaining a lobbyist or professional presentation team
No donations are being accepted, but there is something you can do right now to help identify a national sponsor for the HSe4Metrics platform
If a sponsor is not secured through volunteer outreach or through HSe4Metrics’ direct engagement with major corporations and federal agencies, only then would a limited fundraising campaign be considered
If that point is reached:
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