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You need two data points to measure progress. First graders are the first data point. Transfer students alone are not a dominating element of the population. Po

You need two data points to measure progress. First graders are the first data point. Transfer students alone are not a dominating element of the population. Pointing to an inability to get reliable test results from other districts is trying to excuse failure with more failure. The accounting trick works because it's about comparing percentages rather than raw numbers. The preponderance of disadvantaged kids would swamp the progress of the privileged kids otherwise. This trick lets them point to substantial performance improvements in substantially less than half their students and use it to write off the lack of progress on substantially more than half.

anigbrowl 14y ago
Your accounting argument simply makes no sense. Try stating it with specific groups and numbers to see why. How do you write off a lack of progress for one group when it's there in its own category for everyone to see? And what backs your assumption that there's a preponderance of disadvantaged kids in every school?
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  Their reasons are malformed whatever they happen to be. My argument is merely that they chose this malformed option over other more obviously malformed options because they hoped it would better disguise their malfeasance. If they had grouped students by performance instead it would amount to saying nothing: poor performing students continue to perform poorly, and good ones well, and excellent ones excellently. Of course as you say, a better way to actually hide poor teacher performance would be to group everything together, which is probably what the other 49 states did and why we are not discussing them today but instead talking about Virginia. They certainly didn't choose to do something so obviously and outrageously stupid as to segregate the students by race, statistically or not.

anigbrowl 14y ago

Your accounting argument simply makes no sense. Try stating it with specific groups and numbers to see why. How do you write off a lack of progress for one group when it's there in its own category for everyone to see? And what backs your assumption that there's a preponderance of disadvantaged kids in every school?

fusiongyro 14y ago
Their reasons are malformed whatever they happen to be. My argument is merely that they chose this malformed option over other more obviously malformed options because they hoped it would better disguise their malfeasance. If they had grouped students by performance instead it would amount to saying nothing: poor performing students continue to perform poorly, and good ones well, and excellent ones excellently. Of course as you say, a better way to actually hide poor teacher performance would be to group everything together, which is probably what the other 49 states did and why we are not discussing them today but instead talking about Virginia. They certainly didn't choose to do something so obviously and outrageously stupid as to segregate the students by race, statistically or not.