In his "Wall Street Journal" op-ed on the 25th of anniversary of "A Nation At Risk", former assistant secretary of education Chester E. Finn Jr. applauded the report for turning U.S. education away from equality and toward achievement. It was not surprising, then, that in mid-2008, Finn arranged a conference to examine the…

Are America's schools broken? "Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality" seeks to address misconceptions about America's schools by taking on the credo "what can be measured matters." To the contrary, Dr. Bracey makes a persuasive case that much of what matters cannot be assessed on a multiple choice test. The challenge for…

Private high schools have higher test scores than public schools. Does this mean they are better? Most studies of public versus private schools have explored the full range of income and achievement, one recently finding little if any difference that could not be accounted for by demographic differences. In this article, the author discusses the…

Examines correlation between national test scores in mathematics from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Current Competitiveness Index (CCI). Finds, for example, that while the United States ranks 29th in TIMSS mathematics, it ranks second in competitiveness on the CCI. Korea ranks 3rd in mathematics, but 27th in…

Discusses results of International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement's recent Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), an international comparison of 35 countries wherein American students finished ninth. The web address for the PIRLS reports is www.pirls.org. (PKP)

Graphs don't always show what the graphers say they do. The most notorious recent example of a misleading graph is the one produced by the U.S. Department of Education that plots National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores against total federal spending on education. This graph was taken apart by Howard Wainer and Daniel…

Advises readers to exercise caution when interpreting the results of so-called"classic studies," such as Hawthorne study; discusses results of study by Jaekyung Lee published in the January/February 2002 issue of "Educational Researcher" that found the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students…

Compares and analyzes the size of the "SAT elite," seniors who score 650 or higher on the verbal or mathematics section of the Scholastic Assessment Test, over 10-year period. Disputes published reports that "SAT elite" has shrunk. (PKP)

Discusses research by Marsha Buly and Sheila Valencia in the Fall 2002 issue of "Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis" on the success of Washington State's legislation mandating phonics-based reading instruction. Discusses contribution of music education to Finnish students' high scores in the Program of International Student…

Discusses results of latest Program of International Student Assessment developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that tested 15-year-olds in 32 countries in reading, mathematics, and science. Focuses on reaction to below-average results in Germany. (PKP)

In this article, the author discusses the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). He compares and contrasts his ideas with another professional named Haggai Kupermintz of the University of Haifa. Kupermintz asks his questions in the Fall 2003 issue of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. As for the circularity, Kupermintz notes…

A study finds that American students are engaged with lessons only 54 percent of the time, due to external preoccupations and uninspired instruction. The Heritage Foundation's "No Excuses" report makes misleading correlations between scores, phonics, and socioeconomic variables. Florida housing prices reflect letter grades assigned to…

Reporting how many people scored at a certain level or how many people passed a cut score is not the same thing as reporting the scores themselves. The newest (indefensible) cliche, derived from international test-score comparisons, says American kids get dumber the longer they stay in school. (MLH)

Data from First in the World Consortium (group of 20 suburban school districts that paid to have students take the Third International Mathematics and Science Study tests) and TIMSS dispel pervasive myth that only 1% of American students score as well in math as average Japanese student. Before copying Asia, American educators should examine…

Presents tables showing that the variability among states for results of the 1992 International Assessment of Educational Progress and National Assessment of Educational Progress is as great as that among countries. Also, Asian-American students score higher than any other students in the world. First- and second-ranked states are listed for math…