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Texas - 40.3 California - 25.3 That does not fit into any political narrative.

by sremani 12y ago

jff 12y ago
Well, it fits my personal narrative that I should move out of California... :)
bzbarsky 12y ago
Indeed. Texas does better than California on average and _way_ better for less-advantaged students, while spending less money per student on its schools (though it's entirely possible that in COLA-adjusted terms Texas is spending more; it's hard to tell).
- tomsthumb 12y ago
  What would be the signifigance of the COLA-adjusted terms?
  - bzbarsky 12y ago
    I would assume that all else being equal (a huge assumption there!) paying teachers the same thing in San Francisco and in Houston would give you teachers of worse caliber in San Francisco. That's because the cost of living and salaries in general are lower in Houston, so for the same amount of money you can hire more qualified people who have more options on the job market.
- ausjke 12y ago
  does it have anything to do with: 1. CA is a more of socialized state 2. CA has more diverse population, to get it straight, more Hispanic and blacks? or something else?
  - bzbarsky 12y ago
    I can't speak to #1, but as for #2 Texas's educational system outperforms California's when you look specifically at Blacks, Hispanics, and poor people. See for example http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?app=NDE&p=2-MAT-2-20133%2c20113%2c20093%2c20073%2c20053%2c20033%2c20003%2c20002%2c19963%2c19962%2c19922%2c19902-MRPCM-SDRACE-NP%2cAL%2cAK%2cAZ%2cAR%2cCA%2cCO%2cCT%2cDE%2cDC%2cFL%2cGA%2cHI%2cID%2cIL%2cIN%2cIA%2cKS%2cKY%2cLA%2cME%2cMD%2cMA%2cMI%2cMN%2cMS%2cMO%2cMT%2cNE%2cNV%2cNH%2cNJ%2cNM%2cNY%2cNC%2cND%2cOH%2cOK%2cOR%2cPA%2cRI%2cSC%2cSD%2cTN%2cTX%2cUT%2cVT%2cVA%2cWA%2cWV%2cWI%2cWY%2cDS-MN_MN-Y_J-0-0-37 http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?ap... which is the 8th grade math score on NAEP by ethnicity. California scores 258 for blacks and 263 for Hispanics (and 291 for whites). Texas scores 273 for blacks, 281 for Hispanics, 300 for whites. Similarly, if you look at the scores for students eligible for free or reduced price lunches, California is at 264 and Texas is at 279. Overall, the demographics of the two states are not that different; see http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-graphs?st0=CA&st1=TX http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-... near the bottom. The big difference is that California has a lot more Asians and Texas has a lot more blacks. But even the fact that Asians on average score higher than blacks on these tests is not enough to overcome the fact that on an race group by race basis Texas scores so much better than California. Theories as to why abound; everyone has their favorite theory that matches their politics, which makes me slightly doubt all of them. I'd really like to know what's going on there, though, because it seems like Texas schools are consistently doing something less wrong than California ones...

Texas - 40.3 California - 25.3 That does not fit into any political narrative.

by sremani 12y ago

Texas - 40.3 California - 25.3 That does not fit into any political narrative.

jff 12y ago

Well, it fits my personal narrative that I should move out of California... :)

bzbarsky 12y ago

Indeed. Texas does better than California on average and _way_ better for less-advantaged students, while spending less money per student on its schools (though it's entirely possible that in COLA-adjusted terms Texas is spending more; it's hard to tell).

tomsthumb 12y ago
What would be the signifigance of the COLA-adjusted terms?
- bzbarsky 12y ago
  I would assume that all else being equal (a huge assumption there!) paying teachers the same thing in San Francisco and in Houston would give you teachers of worse caliber in San Francisco. That's because the cost of living and salaries in general are lower in Houston, so for the same amount of money you can hire more qualified people who have more options on the job market.
ausjke 12y ago
does it have anything to do with: 1. CA is a more of socialized state 2. CA has more diverse population, to get it straight, more Hispanic and blacks? or something else?
- bzbarsky 12y ago
  I can't speak to #1, but as for #2 Texas's educational system outperforms California's when you look specifically at Blacks, Hispanics, and poor people. See for example http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?app=NDE&p=2-MAT-2-20133%2c20113%2c20093%2c20073%2c20053%2c20033%2c20003%2c20002%2c19963%2c19962%2c19922%2c19902-MRPCM-SDRACE-NP%2cAL%2cAK%2cAZ%2cAR%2cCA%2cCO%2cCT%2cDE%2cDC%2cFL%2cGA%2cHI%2cID%2cIL%2cIN%2cIA%2cKS%2cKY%2cLA%2cME%2cMD%2cMA%2cMI%2cMN%2cMS%2cMO%2cMT%2cNE%2cNV%2cNH%2cNJ%2cNM%2cNY%2cNC%2cND%2cOH%2cOK%2cOR%2cPA%2cRI%2cSC%2cSD%2cTN%2cTX%2cUT%2cVT%2cVA%2cWA%2cWV%2cWI%2cWY%2cDS-MN_MN-Y_J-0-0-37 http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?ap... which is the 8th grade math score on NAEP by ethnicity. California scores 258 for blacks and 263 for Hispanics (and 291 for whites). Texas scores 273 for blacks, 281 for Hispanics, 300 for whites. Similarly, if you look at the scores for students eligible for free or reduced price lunches, California is at 264 and Texas is at 279. Overall, the demographics of the two states are not that different; see http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-graphs?st0=CA&st1=TX http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-... near the bottom. The big difference is that California has a lot more Asians and Texas has a lot more blacks. But even the fact that Asians on average score higher than blacks on these tests is not enough to overcome the fact that on an race group by race basis Texas scores so much better than California. Theories as to why abound; everyone has their favorite theory that matches their politics, which makes me slightly doubt all of them. I'd really like to know what's going on there, though, because it seems like Texas schools are consistently doing something less wrong than California ones...