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Friday, August 17, 2012

Telegenic Cable News Idiots?

I know; I shouldn't write about this until I see it. But if what Diane Ravitch is saying here is true...
This was one of the most biased interviews I have ever done, and I have done many. 
Randi Kaye asked me about NAEP scale scores, which was technically a very dumb question, and I was stunned. 
She thinks that a scale score of 250 on a 500 point scale is a failing grade, but a scale score is not a grade at all. 
It’s a trend line.
She asserted that the scale scores are a failing grade for the nation.
That is like saying that someone who scores a 600 on the SAT is a C student, because it is only 75% of 800. But that’s wrong. 
The scale is a technical measure. It is not a grade, period.
Dear lord. If Kaye really asked this question in this way, she is a fool beyond belief.

The highest level a student can be placed into on the NAEP is "Advanced Proficient." The cut score for this level - in other words, the lowest possible score you need to get to be "Advanced Proficient" - for 4th Grade math is 268. Only 7% of 4th Graders achieved this score in 2011.

If what Kaye asserts is true (assuming she asserted it at all), then even our very top scorers would barely be above failing; our very best testing kids are really low-performing.

Does that sound right to you?

I'm going to hold off saying any more until I see the show myself.

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