Why All the Hype About NAEP?

Here we go again. The 2017 round of theNation ’s Report Card was released today. The results shouldn ’t surprise anyone – they arealmost entirely flat at the national level. However, that doesn ’t stop educators and education reformers fromspinning the results to fit whatever agendas they might have. Those who defend previous reforms claim thatcomputer-based testing must be to blame for stagnant performance – and that students today are “relatively poorer” than they were in the past. On the other hand, groups calling for additional reform claim that the NAEP results should startle Americans.We should all settle down. Here are 3 reasons why:Test scores tell us very little about success.Education scholars such as University of Arkansas ’s Jay P. Greene have been talking about the weaknesses of standardized test scores for a long time. Specifically, Greene frequently points out that at least 10 rigorous school choice studies indicatedisconnects between effects on test scores and effects on long-term outcomes such as attainment and earnings. In fact,Diane Ravitch recently praised Greene for shining a light on this issue. And it ’s not every day that Ravitch and Greene agree on something.Research reviews indicate that Greene is on to something. For example, a recent review of the academic evidence on the subject finds that “there is a weak relationship between impacts on test scores and later attainment outcomes. ”Similarly, I have started to review the causa...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs