Why Compare with Internatioanl Standards?

We all know that grade inflation, test retakes, and similar practices have done a great disservice to our students. Often in the name of equal outcomes and fairness, these policies have been lowering our educational standards for a very long time.

We no longer have reliable standards we can trust to measure educational outcomes. Virginia’s SOL (Standards of Learning) tests have been manipulated and shifted so often that they are now meaningless for any serious historical comparison.

The SAT, the college entrance exam, has also been undergoing reconstruction to better adapt to students, according to the College Board, the organization that administers the exam. One of the actions they took was shorting SAT in 2025. ACT exam will follow that.

This is after the SAT changed from a 2400-point scale to a 1600-point scale in March 2016.

https://www.campusreform.org/article/college-board-shortens-sat-student-performance-declines/28208

We are facing the dangerous reality that institutions are openly lowering educational standards to make outcomes appear better than they actually are. The result? Our college graduates are often unprepared for the majors the country urgently needs, such as STEM, manufacturing, and engineering, because K–12 education fails to equip them.

Let’s face this problem bravely and take meaningful action. I suggest comparing our education system with high-performing international systems or other countries that consistently produce more qualified students.

It’s time to demand real, measurable progress—enough of hiding our educational shortcomings and fooling ourselves.