Our Education: Proficient Here, But Below Basic There?

There are several common misconceptions about the No Child Left Behind Act, but perhaps the most significant one is that it creates a uniform set of standards for all of America's children. While standards are indeed the crux of the law, along with the requirement that schools test their students to see whether the standards are being met, the misconception is that there is any kind of uniformity within the standards for school aged youth. In other words, whether a child is scored as below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced in a subject like reading may have less to do with her aptitude in that subject area and more to do with her zip code.

The reason for this discrepancy is simple: NCLB charges each of the 50 states to set its own standards in core subject areas, and allows the states considerable leeway in interpreting how high--or low--to set their bars. A report released by the US Department of Education just last week underscores the severe inconsistency that has resulted from this state-by-state system of standard setting. It does so by comparing the scores that students need to hit proficiency standards in each of the 50 states against the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), so as to create a common benchmark for performance.

Full post here: http://blog.oured.org/2007/06/proficient_here_but_below_basi.php