FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rob Vernon
Wednesday, May 24, 2006 Office: 920-435-2006
On the Web: http://www.votemarkgreen.com Cell: 920-676-8417
Green: Governor Doyle Should Instruct DPI to
Come Clean on State Test Scores
GREEN BAY – Yesterday, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) reported on the
percentage of Wisconsin students who supposedly are “advanced” or “proficient” in key
academic areas. However, a new report by scholars at Harvard University shows the DPI
numbers are inflated. Notable researchers Paul Peterson and Frederick Hess highlight “the
bizarre situation in which some states achieve handsome proficiency results by grading their
students against low standards.” They list Wisconsin as one such state. In response,
Congressman Mark Green, the Republican candidate for governor, issued the following
statement Wednesday:
“State government this week misled Wisconsin residents about the academic
achievement of our state’s students. Notable Harvard researchers Paul Peterson
and Frederick Hess disagree with the Department of Public Instruction’s
findings. The pair gives Wisconsin grades ranging from C to D when it comes to
having high proficiency standards. Governor Doyle should insist that the DPI
Superintendent come clean and give parents the real story.
“The lack of credibility in DPI’s scores is illustrated by comparing them with the
most widely accepted, independent measure of academic achievement – the
National Assessment of Education Progress – regarded as the ‘nation’s report
card.’ By NAEP standards, 35% of Wisconsin fourth graders are advanced or
proficient in science. But, according to DPI standards, the number jumps to 77%.
Similar disparities exist at all grades and in all subjects.
“Elect me governor, and I will work to ensure all of our kids have access to a
great education – and we won’t inflate test scores to give a false sense of
achievement.”
The Peterson-Hess study is contained in the forthcoming Summer 2006 issue of Education Next.
A copy is available at http://www.educationnext.org/20063/28.html.
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Speaking of "coming clean," Green failed to mention in his release that the sponsor of the study in question was the Hoover Institute, a California-based, right wing think tank.
ReplyDeleteThe report weights itself to measure state's compliance with the President's NCLB guidelines rather than standards drafted by educators. The report has Wisconsin ranked behind Louisiana, for crying out loud. The most egregious example of the dishonesty of the study's criteria is Washington DC's #3 ranking.
Gren also neglected to mention that, even by the Hoover Institute's skewed standards, it's noted that Wisconsin is one of the states showing the largest improvement. I assume that means improvement since the Thompson/McCallum years.
i would assume the truth to be somewhere in between the two studies, having DPI publish their scores is kind of like having an employee give himself a review and just taking it as truth.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did not like about Green was his John Kerry like rhetoric about "here's a problem, here's a problem" but offer no ideas or plan on how to fix this.