The NAEP disaster repeats itself in the United States every year. Can anything fix it?
Yes, per Jamie Dimon, societal innovation has the power to drive breathtaking, rapid change.
But he cautions that innovation must be tested—requiring implementation—and that success is never guaranteed.
Innovation’s opposite is the slow, barely measurable change that, for decades, has left much of the national K-12 population unable to reach minimum NAEP proficiency in reading, writing, and math.
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The U.S. public K-12 system, arguably the best in the world, needs an assist
Just being the best in the world isn’t enough—not if it isn’t inclusive of the U.S. students it’s meant to serve.
Visualize this metaphor: 10,000 newborns, randomly selected from hospitals across the United States, are brought into one vast nursery. Swaddled and sleeping—indistinguishable in their promise. Each child embodies a complex mix of cognitive, noncognitive, and opportunity-based traits—the multivariate constructs that shape human potential.
And yet, based on decades of NAEP data, we can already predict that half are statistically destined to fall below basic proficiency in reading, writing, or math by the time they finish high school.
A fundamental hypothesis for K-12 student performance (and one simple question: Did the DOE consider it and commission studies?)
The hypothesis. The innate talent, ability, and natural potential of the 10,000 newborns are, on average, much the same—and yet half will fall into the bottom half of NAEP assessments. (Is this not morally shocking?)
Therefore, in the case of high schools in America where the majority of students score in the bottom half of NAEP, the question must be asked: is there a systemic reason—other than student potential—for such results?
Similarly, in schools where half of the students fall into the bottom half of NAEP, something is again out of balance. In such cases, the entire student body may be vastly underachieving—with the top half capable of far more, and the bottom half likewise holding untapped ability.
If the hypothesis is correct, the overwhelming majority of low-performing students likely have the innate capability to reach or exceed the minimum threshold of NAEP assessments—an achievement so significant it could redefine America’s homegrown workforce and GDP.
The HSe4Metrics platform may be the societal solution—but it awaits testing
Meanwhile, the little girl chasing the balloon awaits her turn in the K–12 system. America’s public schools—vast and accessible—represent a windfall opportunity. But will she be among the 50% who benefit from that opportunity—or the 50% who do not?
The difference-maker may be what JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon calls for: societal innovation. That is, not just the kind of innovation in business and industry now recognized as essential, but societal innovation across institutions—such as K–12 education—that shape opportunity and equity.
The object of this website is the HSe4Metrics platform innovation. The challenge is that it must remain free access, despite high operational, cloud, and infrastructure costs—expenses more commonly associated with large-scale government programs.
Thus, the platform seeks a mission-aligned funding sponsor.
Funding can come from Corporate America, government, or both
The funding must match the scale of the challenge.
A single federal agency could be the sole sponsor. So could, in principle, a top-tier corporation—such as Procter & Gamble—backed by the best in executive leadership.
An ideal scenario would be a “holy grail” public–private partnership: a major private-sector corporation (e.g., P&G) collaborating with a federal counterpart—such as one of the 15 cabinet-level departments (State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, or Homeland Security) or a significant independent agency (e.g., the National Science Foundation, NASA, AmeriCorps / Corporation for National and Community Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, EPA, FCC, or National Endowment for the Arts).
Success verification: hard-number metrics results
The HSe4Metrics platform outcomes will be measurable across a wide range of hard-number metrics.
Key code 188, 194