From the front page of today's WSJ, more dismal data. The problem, however, isn't high schools more than any other grade level. I guarantee that nearly all of the students scoring poorly during their senior year of high school ENTERED high school years below grade level.

New data show that fewer than 25% of 2010 graduates who took the ACT college-entrance exam possessed the academic skills necessary to pass entry-level courses, despite modest gains in college-readiness among U.S high-school students in the last few years.

The results raise questions about how well the nation's high schools are preparing students for college, and show the challenge facing the Obama administration in its effort to raise educational standards. The administration won bipartisan support for its education policies early on, but faces a tough fight in the fall over the rewrite and reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind program.

…In the recent results, only 24% of the graduating class of 2010 scored high enough on the ACT in math, reading, English and science to ensure they would pass entry-level college courses. This is a slight uptick from last year, when 23% were ready for college, and from 2008, when 22% were ready.

Still, 28% of students didn't score high enough on even one subject-matter exam to ensure college readiness.

-------------------------