The principal refused to grant parental requests for advancement or even test the students. It took an intervention by the school district superintendent and special testing to advance the students to the fifth-grade curriculum. The victory was short-lived. The group of students at the center of the controversy did indeed advance. In time, however, parents of younger children were not aware of the history of advancement and excellence.
Mediocrity now prevails.
Apparently, the highest ability students are not as capable as they once were. There are fewer and fewer students excelling on SAT and other aptitude and achievement tests. Scores in standardized tests have declined in part because a greater portion of the student population, not just the college bound, are taking these tests. Nonetheless, the demographic changes in the test-taking population are not sufficient to explain declining scores at the high end. College professors are reporting that many of their students are not prepared for college-level study.