U.S. students struggle with military exam
There is a new national security issue that has nothing to do with terrorists, according to a new report by The Education Trust. "Shut Out of the Military" is a first-of-its-kind analysis of the Army's Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), which tests whether someone is eligible to enlist in the military. According to the report, more than one in five young Americans don't meet the minimum academic eligibility requirements determined by the Armed Forces Qualification Test, which is made up of four academic ASVAB subtests.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the Associated Press that the nation's struggling education system creates problems for the country that go beyond business and economics.
"Too many of our high school students are not graduating ready to begin college or a career—and many are not eligible to serve in our armed forces," Duncan said in the AP interview. "I am deeply troubled by the national security burden created by America's under performing education system."
The racial achievement gap is represented in the report's findings that ineligibility rates were even higher amongst African-Americans and Hispanics, at 39 percent and 29 percent, respectively. The states that performed the worst, with more than 30 percent of applicants scoring as ineligible for enlistment, were Hawaii, Mississippi and Louisiana. Washington, D.C. also fell in that category. The states that fared the best, with less than 15 percent of applicants scoring as ineligible, were Indiana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and New Hampshire.
Because the ASVAB is seen as the world's most comprehensive aptitude battery test, performance on the test is fairly indicative of how prepared one would be for the civilian workforce. Experts say the "Shut Out of the Military" report's findings, and the overall academic capability of Army hopefuls, should be taken seriously by educators.
“Too many of us, including educators, have comforted ourselves with the notion that kids who aren’t ready for college can find a place in the armed services," said Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust, via press release. "These findings shatter that myth and strip away the illusion of opportunity available to underprepared students. Our economy, our democracy and our national security demand much more than our schools are delivering now. The question is when we will step up to ensure that all of our students graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to be ready to take on any challenge they—and the nation—may face.”
The report used data from some 350,000 high school graduates between the ages of 17 and 20 that took the exam between 2004 and 2009 in hopes of qualifying to enlist in the Armed Forces.
