October 22, 2009
Math Wizards
The NAEP math scores were released this week, and the news was good for New Hampshire. New Hampshire finished near the top when compared to the rest of the country. But was it really good news?
The New Hampshire papers were quick to offer accolades for this accomplishment, but there were some glaring facts that went unreported.
According to NAEP (the National assessment):
• 56 percent of the fourth-graders scored proficient;
• 43 percent of the eighth-graders scored proficient.
While scores did improve slightly, I’m guess I’m missing the cause for celebration when roughly half of the New Hampshire students are testing below proficiency level.
This is also quite different than what the Gov. John Lynch’s New Hampshire Department of Education reported to parents after students took the (NECAP), the state standardized test:
• 73 percent of the fourth-grade students tested proficient;
• 65 percent of the eighth-grade students tested proficient;
• 32 percent of the 11th-grade students tested proficient.
One can see a large discrepancy between the Lynch Department of Education’s findings and the National Assessment. Is this fuzzy math? Or is it a case of the Lynch Department of Education misleading parents?
New York had a similar situation where state scores showed large percentages of proficient students compared to national scores. This is why Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University, wrote a scathing article in the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/ny_testing_mess_xlGmMitC04B4VHD2YDi5CM).
Because New York has such a large discrepancy between the state test and the national test, “The fabulous “gains” reported last spring, we now know, were based on dumbed-down tests and dubious scoring of the tests”
She goes on to say:
“Heads should roll. Someone must be held accountable for this travesty against children, teachers, parents and taxpayers. … What this amounts to is a fraud” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/education/15scores.html)
The sad part is, no one in New Hampshire noticed a similar situation occurred in New Hampshire. No one is questioning the Lynch Department of Education on the significant difference in what they reported as “proficient” and what the independent national test reported as “proficient.”
Ravitch has been a crtical voice in the state of New York, yet Gov. Lynch rides a wave of silence. That’s unfortunate for the students in New Hampshire.