Partnership For Learning
Featured Media
Subscribe to E-News

Not really apples to apples

By allisonm on 16 Aug | 2 comments

While I agree that we're making significant progress on a number of education fronts in Washington, let's not break out the champagne glasses just yet.

 

In this Seattle Times article, Washington's class of 2007 is called out as "3rd in the nation for ACT scores." While a great achievement and a good indicator that we're headed in the right direction, this USA Today article includes a state-by-state comparison table that's quite telling.

 

Only 16% of the Class of 2007 were tested and across the board percentages ranged from 9% to 100% depending on what state you're looking at. In all fairness, the Seattle Times article does note that "scores are higher in states where a smaller percentage of high school graduates takes the exam." But only by looking at the detailed chart can you see how much of a discrepancy there actually is.
 
I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer here. As I said, we are making gains and should give credit where credit is due. I'm just not sure that we're really comparing apples to apples.
Topics: Washington | Standardized Tests |

Comments

Posted: Wed, 08/29/2007 - 10:00pm — allisonm

Puzzling results

Thanks for your feedback! Your comment about CA and OR's scores are well taken. Frankly, I'm sort of puzzled about what, if any, definitive conclusions we can make from the latest ACT rankings. There are such wide variances in the participation rates. In some states that seems to have a big impact on student achievement scores but in other states that logic doesn't hold true.
 
So the bottom line for me is that we need to look more carefully at the data sources for these sort of state rankings.
 
But just to satisfy my own curiosity, I think I'll call ACT to try to get further clarification on what all of this means. I'll let you know if I find out anything enlightening.
 
But until then, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this post. We love hearing from you!
Posted: Mon, 08/20/2007 - 10:00pm — gary

math and journalists

A journalist doing math? Does not compute. Almost all the newspaper reporters with any math skills are in the sports or business sections. And that is an AP article so how much blame should the Sea Times get other than not doing a local story for budget reasons?

 

 

While I did not do a full analysis, I do note that CA and OR had only 15 & 18 percent participation and they scored a point or more below WA. I also do not think that the 75+% participation rates in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, etc. have much to do with their scores below 20.5.

 

Could we say though that "teaching to the test" (WASL) is not hurting the performance of our best students in their preparation for college?