School quality test fails

Many "Failing" Schools Aren't Failing When Measured on Impact

© 2008 Newswise.

[Embargoed for release until 12:00 a.m. ET, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 to coincide with publication in the journal Sociology of Education.]

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/failschool.htm

The Ohio State University: www.osu.edu

Description from Newswise

Up to three-quarters of U.S. schools deemed failing based on achievement test scores would receive passing grades if evaluated using a less biased measure, a new study suggests. Researchers developed a new method of measuring school quality based on schools' actual impact on learning – how much faster students learned during the academic year than during summer vacation.

Comments

Surely this research should remind us not to view policies as if they were written in stone. Dogma has never served people well, and those in power would be doing every a big service if they were open minded and flexible.

The question is, what can be done to redress the effects of past policies?

Bottom line

We live in a world of probabilities, where dogma serves no useful purpose.

Tags: education, policies, testing, schools


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