Excerpted videos and summaries of Diane Ravitch, Michelle Rhee et al.
Excellent recap and excerpted videos of the Martha Vineyard’s panel discussion with Diane Ravitch, Michelle Rhee et al. Written by Gary Rubinstein for Gary Rubinstein’s TFA Blog. Read the entire post here.
“I’ve heard Rhee quote these [academic improvement] statistics before. They do sound pretty compelling, but are they accurate, and what can be implied from them. In D.C., the math test scores for secondary were 38% in 2006. They went to 32% in 2007 then 41% in 2008 then 36% in 2009 and back up to 43% in 2010. So what is this famous 8% stat? She is referring to the 2007 NAEP scores which you can see here. To put that 8% into proper context, NAEP has 4 levels, Below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. What they call ‘proficient’ is actually a higher standard that what states call proficient.
It is defined on the Nation’s Report Card as
Proficient. One of the three NAEP achievement levels, representing solid academic performance for each grade assessed. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter.
So ‘proficient’ is really more like advanced. D.C. in 2007 had 34% basic and 8% ‘proficient.’ The 34% is in the same general range of their state DC test scores. 8% in this category is still low compared to other states, only Cleveland was lower in that category that year.”
Posted: 5:09PM, September 30, 2011