Gaming the scores
Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I’ve never been a big fan of No Child Left Behind. And this doesn’t help my attitude.
(A)n Associated Press analysis of standardized test scores found a loophole in the [federal No Child Left Behind] law that means the test scores of one in 10 black students nationwide — about 445,000 in all — are not being counted separately at the school level.
That means some schools in which black children are failing still get a passing grade under the law. And it means those schools can avoid providing remedies meant to level the playing field, such as district-funded private tutoring or the chance for students to transfer to better-performing schools.
“States are seriously trying to game this system, and they’re trying to game it in the places and ways that are most likely to erase sort of the largest blemishes on their public records,†said Dianne Piche, executive director of the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, a group that has been one of the biggest supporters of No Child Left Behind.
Read the whole thing. [emphasis added]
- Pat C (for a few days) - Tuesday, Apr 18, 06 @ 8:15 am:
It is true that you need at least 30 samples to be statistically valid. HOWEVER, if you take samples with smaller sizes, it just means the confidence intervals are wider.
In real life this means they can find out, and it’s not hard to do so.
Yet another problem vouchers would solve…..
- Backyard Conservative - Tuesday, Apr 18, 06 @ 9:00 am:
I normally think the best government is that closest to the people. But the teachers’unions are wrecking our schools, in the cities and the suburbs, and NCLB at the national level may be the only way to expose the lies about academic performance that the unions perpetuate. Teachers’ unions harm kids.We need choice:
http://backyardconservative.blogspot.com/
2006/04/hope-of-choice.html
- Lovie's Leather - Tuesday, Apr 18, 06 @ 10:17 am:
Meh, education is a state issue. I know we don’t talk a lot of national politics here. But if we did, I would be criticizing the GOP a lot more than I would like. First of all, Bush is a fiscal liberal. Yeah, yeah, he supports lower taxes. But he also spends out the wazzoo. So a democrat gets elected, raises your taxes, and republicans have a fit. Well… taxes might not need to be raised if Bush and the Republican-controlled congress could put away their checkbook. The federal government also taking control of something that has been a state issue for two-hundred years just shows the length the national GOP will go to. They are all claiming that Ronald Reagan is their hero… yet they spend money like LBJ. Balance the budget, and keep your nose out of the states’ business. Urgg, national issues always piss me off… that is why I stick to state politics…. and if you think I am disgusted with the national GOP, just wait til you get me on a rant about the national dems… bunch a commies….
- Pat C (for a few days) - Tuesday, Apr 18, 06 @ 11:15 am:
One other thing I just realized. This “issue” is in part a result of de-segregation. Else, you’d have more than 30 minority kids in the systems everywhere.
Where would this problem occur? Where you have many whites, and a few minorities.
- YNM - Wednesday, Apr 19, 06 @ 12:33 pm:
Really Backyard … because the NEA doesn’t support this nonsense either. Their position seems to be that STATES (not teacher’s unions) are looking for loopholes in NCLB and score reporting because of the mess that it creates … don’t blame this issue of scoring on teacher’s unions.
+ http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2006/nr060417c.html
And PatC … please, explain how vouchers would solve this problem? Enlighten us.
- YNM - Wednesday, Apr 19, 06 @ 12:35 pm:
And PatC, I would argue that the problem might be more a result of “re”segregation than desegregation … the problem is partly related to schools that have too FEW of one demographic and lack any kind of balance … a balanced demographic would negate this issue …