Fudged data on student proficiency and graduation rates holds back education reform, writes RiShawn Biddle in American Spectator.
America is in the midst of an educational crisis, with high numbers of high school dropouts and low academic achievement. More often than not, school performance data reported by state and federal officials fails to convey this reality.
Because of bad reporting, it can be difficult to get a handle on how poorly traditional public schools are doing in teaching children, keeping them safe, or knowing if they are even attending school. This makes it more difficult for school reformers, especially those in the standards-and-accountability movement, to get parents to embrace the stiff medicine that they tout as necessary reforms.
The quality of education data is improving. In the last few years, states have been forced to admit that graduation rates are much lower than previously billed.
The evaluation of the quality of a public education cannot be left in the hands of the suppliers.
In craft unions the unions are the guarantor of quality. The teacher decision to form an industrial union rendered them incapable of self regulation. Pity.
Mr. Biddle’s take on the situation is too narrow.
By concentrating on the current bout of cheating he misses the fact that this is a fairly recent development. Previously, it didn’t much matter what the numbers were so there wasn’t much reason to cheat.
As the importance of education rises so will the temptation to cheat but that’s just an expression of human characteristics and misses the underlying point that now it’s worth cheating. That’s a good thing.
“By concentrating on the current bout of cheating he misses the fact that this is a fairly recent development. Previously, it didn’t much matter what the numbers were so there wasn’t much reason to cheat.”
And yet … all 50 states were reporting their students as
above average 25ish years ago …
Sigh. It isn’t new. It probably won’t go away.
-Mark Roulo