When Test Scores are Too Good to be True

In the late 1990's, Texas claimed dramatic increases in test scores and high school graduation rates. The jump was so high that observers nationwide were calling it the "Texas Miracle," a phenomenon that led Rod Paige, Houston's superintendent of education at the time onto the national stage. He later served as Bush's secretary of education. By 2004, the "Texas Miracle" was found to be a total sham. Teachers and administrators were fudging data.

Recently in New York City, something similar has been happening. Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein have been claiming that test scores and graduation rates have been rising too.

Since 2003, the city has been telling the public that test scores on the local state exams have been going up. While there have been lots of cases of cheating, the latest investigation into these scores does not uncover schools gaming the system. Rather state department of education leaders are have found that the high scores are meaningless because the  standards are so low. Student who pass the Regents exams (as they are called in New York state), their study found, are likely to flounder in college, if they get there at all. Unless students pass the exam with an 80 or better (currently the passing score is 55 and going up to 65 next year), they are likely to need remediation in college.

In my new home state of Maryland, the state just reported score increases as well. With so many students passing and scoring "proficient" on exams, it is a wonder that students face any academic problems at all. Yet, achievement gaps persist and low income students, for example still struggle to achieve. Perhaps we need to examine, like New York did, what proficiency means, and whether it is meaningful at all. And rather than lowering the proficiency levels to show achievement on exams, let's try getting all students to master some content and skills. Not an easy solution, but if we do it, we'll have real cause for celebration.

Photo credit: DCJohn