Saturday, June 22, 2013

Wisconsin and Lake Woebegone

The Wisconsin DPI, under Tony Evers' Most Beneficial Leadership, describes Wisconsin's public education establishment in terms which would make Lake Woebegone blush:

For much of Evers’ tenure at DPI the media lapped up claims about Wisconsin’s public schools being among the best in the nation.  This occurred despite an earlier Education Sector report — in 2006 — listing Wisconsin as Number One in the nation in over-hyping the test scores of its students....

..."The Pangloss Index ranks Wisconsin as the most optimistic state in the nation…[A]ccording to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the state is a modern-day educational utopia where a large majority of students meet academic standards, high school graduation rates are high, every school is safe and nearly all teachers are highly qualified.
 
"[While] school districts around the nation are struggling to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), the primary standard of school and district success under NCLB…99.8 percent of Wisconsin districts—425 out of 426—made AYP in 2004–05."...
 
Maybe Keillor's imaginary hometown isn't the correct analogy; at least Keillor's Camelot is deliberately ironic.
 
On the other hand, Evers' Camelot is not deliberately ironic.  It's fraud.
 
...the Education Sector reported that under Evers and his boss, Elizabeth Burmaster, Wisconsin basically cooked the books.  Wisconsin used a "proficiency" standard that was so low it enabled all but one district — Milwaukee — to pass muster....
 
The solution is simple:  more money!!

8 comments:

I'm the real George Mitchell said...

What George Mitchell fails to note is the subjective nature of cut scores.

Federal law requires states to devise exams to test students in reading, math and science but leaves details such as cut scores up to states, as well as the content asked on those tests. For example, Colorado asks fourth-graders whether Alec saw Paul running after Missy, while Massachusetts asks them to comprehend a Leo Tolstoy excerpt.

Gee, wreaks of local control, aina! The horror!

But states rarely explain what it actually means for a student to pass a state test, to be "proficient," or how passing scores are established. So parents, policymakers and the public have only a partial understanding of educational progress and what measures like adequate yearly progress really mean. That's because trying to interpret student performance on a test without understanding the passing score is like reading a map without a scale.

Dad29 said...

Obviously you were a PublickScrewels victim.

wreaks of local control, aina!

1) The first word is REEKS, as in 'stinks', not WREAKS as in 'to cause or make'.

2) The contraction "aina" ALWAYS has an apostrophe before the final "a". All contractions must have an apostrophe...

....unless the writer is educated in the PublickScrewels.

I'm the real George Mitchell said...

Rather than give me grammatical lessons, focus on the substance of my post. But, then again, those private school folks did find it difficult to think for themselves...

Dad29 said...

"Grammatical" is not a modifier of "lessons."

Those PublickScrewels people can't think, period.

I'm the real George Mitchell said...

You got burned big-time, snagglepus. As far my grammar, I do it good.

Saint Revolution said...

Hey...GayOrghghghgh:

First off, your loaf-pinching SPELLING, not your GRAMMAR, is what YOU meant to scrawl.

Your fecal grammar sucks as well.

...grammar lessons...grammatical in substance...

How does one "give" lessons?

You mean teach you...?

...or, in your case, "...dun lern ewe..."?

Keep sniffin' those hair products, Georgy Porgy.

I'm the real George Mitchell said...

Leave it to St. Revolution to stick his ugly snout into the trough. I suppose he has to "man-up" for his bankster buddies, Jerome Corsi and Mohamed El-Erian.

George Mitchell said...

Real nice blog you run here, Daddio.