An Enron for our nation's schools?
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/na...print&position
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/na...print&position
Quote:
| The Times analysis of performance on the Stanford Achievement Test [a national test] and the Texas exam shows this: ... ¶Even students with the poorest skills posted high scores on the Texas test. In reading, a passing score of 70 on the test was the equivalent to scores below the 30th percentile in national rankIn 10th grade, passing the state exam was equivalent to the fifth percentile in the national ranking. ¶While the Houston gains on the Stanford test in some grades were large enough to be considered significant in educational testing, the city was not making much headway when compared with national averages. . ¶On the Stanford tests, the average reading scores for Houston students of all races in grades 9 through 11 have actually dropped since 1999. ... ¶The achievement gap between whites and minorities, which Houston authorities have argued has nearly disappeared on the Texas exam, remains huge on the Stanford test. ... "This says that the progress on TAAS is probably overstated, possibly by quite a margin," said Daniel Koretz of the Harvard School of Education, who also reviewed The Times's analysis, "And when all is said and done, Houston looks average or below average." |
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