Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Too Soon to Celebrate A Rise in DC NAEP Scores

While DCPS, TFA, Arne Duncan, and the Washington Post were quick to declare the recent rise in NAEP scores in DC as validation of the strategies put into place by Michelle Rhee and Kaya Henderson, more observant analysts say, "not so fast." James Morrow of PBS' Learning Matters blog cogently described here why those conclusions are not warranted. In fact, most of the improvement came before Rhee and Henderson's tenure. The new reforms seem to have actually widened the achievement gap. And the gains, such as they are, might be attributed instead to the gentrification of the student population -- changing demographics. Gary Rubenstein makes the case for scepticism even more strongly, with charts and graphs that put the supposed gains in context on his blog here.