But first a quote from the Thomas B. Friedman Institute that begins its fascinating look at state-by-state variance when it comes to accountability and No Child Left Behind in "The Accountability Illusion".
"This study examines the No Child Left Behind Act system and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rules for 28 states. We selected 36 real schools (half elementary, half middle) that vary by size, achievement, diversity, etc. and determined which of them would or would not make AYP when evaluated under each state's accountability rules. If a school that made AYP in Washington were relocated to Wisconsin or Ohio, would that same school make AYP there? Based on this analysis, we can see how AYP varies across the country and evaluate the effectiveness of NCLB."
Dear readers who haven't actually been bored to tears over the last few days as I bewail, bemoan and bewilder over standardized testing will definitely get a kick out of the whole site linked above. In particular, may I draw your attention to:
- The press release for the study (sorry, .pdf)
- A cool rollover map detailing state-by-state differences
- And a killer PowerPoint (and I know the term "killer PowerPoint" is about as oxymoronic as you can get) detailing the study and its findings.
- Lastly, here's the executive summary of the report on New Mexico. Note the sidebar on "subgroup size".
A veritable wonk buffet of statistical goodness here, and one I wish every single American would read, and could understand. Hell, I just wish every public school teacher could read and understand it. Double Hell...I wish anybody, anywhere in any profession would bother to read such findings, even if they, largely, didn't understand it.
P.S.: If your super-wonky, but can't decide which link to hit...go for the PowerPoint. It's especially wonkalicious.
1 comment:
Everyone can start by just going and sitting through the board meeting tonight. You don't have to say a thing, unless you are so moved, but if people started just showing up, they are bound to ask why. Why all of a sudden are all these people here? They might even ask, Why all the sudden intrest in your school system, who are you, parents, teachers? Enough people might make them nervous enough to do something right for a change. Do the same thing with the Union meetings. I can't quit, I did that years ago. But I do advise anyone thinking about it, get the extra teachers homeowners insurance, at least you're covered. Think about it, who do you personally know who has actually been helped by the union in the last10 years? Think of the raise you could give yourselves.
Nancy
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