It seems almost too common and too long-standing a problem to talk about as a serious hindrance to school reform. But a growing group of researchers say changing anti-intellectual attitudes among students is at the root of the struggle to save schools here and across the country. Teased for being smart A recent study of 20,000 students nationwide by Temple University professor Laurence Steinberg found that fewer than one in five said their friends think it is important to get good grades. Why School Reform Has Failed and What Parents Need To Do. We make fun of people who value book smarts, he said.
Many students sure do, anyway.
Almost a quarter of fourth-graders surveyed recently said they agreed their friends make fun of people who try to do well in school. That information was collected as part of a recent study of reading skills in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test of students skills given since 1968. Among city kids, the number that said their friends frown on smarts rose to 28 percent. Kids who scored poorly on the reading assessment were also more likely to say they d be teased for being smart, a related study found. Those findings are no surprise to Kristina Neal.