[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Test Scores 2009 - Reaction

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Test Scores 2009 - Reaction
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1249968985.shtml


   The Minnesota Department of Education released its [1]2009 test
   scores, the ones required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). First off,
   if it were up to me, I'd abolish NCLB and all the rest of the Federal
   education programs enacted the past 50 years. Besides not being among
   the enumerated power granted by the U.S. Constitution, they simply
   don't work as national test scores indicate.
   NCLB in particular doesn't really promote specific solutions. It
   measures results and punishes failure to meet increasingly higher
   standards, closing bad schools and/or providing more options for
   students. Or so its proponents claim. Trouble is, these measurements
   are cut so many ways that almost no district can hope to get a 100%
   passing score. Or so its detractors claim.
   The report for 2009 looks pretty gruesome, with nearly half of our
   schools coming up short. Some came off last year's list, but over 100
   others were added this year. That's not unexpected given that NCLB is
   still raising the bar year over year. I therefore don't think this
   report, even the scores in and around my district are all that
   worrisome.
   What statewide, detailed testing does allow us to do, however, is rank
   the districts, grading on the curve as we used to say. Using the
   language and logic of the Left, if a District scores in the bottom 20
   percent for a given demographic, that's a disparate outcome that
   justifies a response, usually in the form of more money to that
   already poorly performing district. It would be interesting to see
   what would happen if the districts in the top 20% got that extra
   money, a real investment in education.
   Unfortunately, the Districts having signed on to NCLB for the "free"
   money are now stuck with some of its consequences, and even Alice
   Seagren, Minnesota's Education Commissioner, wants these eased. She
   doesn't want out, as a few have suggested. With NCLB up for renewal in
   this high point of Democratic party rule in Washington, this will no
   doubt happen, leaving us with just the test scores to consider.

References

   1. http://bit.ly/oxRw8