Kicking Out Low Scores Doesn't Really Make Schools Look Better (NCLB News)

One of the most interesting stories about NCLB this week chronicles the many ways in which minority children were left out of the scoring system in Illinois, which only this week released its 2004 scores: Test scores don't count the neediest (Chicago Tribune).

It’s amazing how hard some folks are working to kick out scores that would lower schools’ ratings, but an awfully good way to understand the mentality and behavior that NCLB is trying to modify.

On the same day the Tribune story came out, the state superintendent in Illinois said that he thought NCLB was stigmatizing low-scoring kids. Scary that he would think that the kids, not the schools who weren’t teaching them, would be in danger of that. But he’s not alone in trying to take pressure off the adults: Nearly 80% of Georgia schools file successful AYP appeals (Access North Georgia).

In fact, examples of more constructive use of test data are few and far between, though extremely powerful and seemingly on the rise: Mining the Scores for Nuances in Improvement (Washington Post).

More NCLB News:
More schools making gains on No Child Left Behind Kansas City Star
Joseph and the Achievement Gap Classroom Leadership
Reading First program targets K-3 Michigan children Associated Press
'No Child Left Behind' applies to poorer students only if schools get federal grants
Lifting test scores in one San Jose district San Jose Mercury News
Students at Boca Raton area elementary schools prove that poverty ...
Getting to know what they need to know Barnstable Patriot
Few math studies pass federal scrutiny (eSchoolNews)
Real Kids, Real Numbers (Urban Institute)
Some timid, other teachers not bothered by new requirements
Demopolis Times
State official lists 7 schools to close in '05 San Francisco Chronicle
District OK's plan for at-risk schools Miami Herald
State tests often trail US results USA Today
Younger students face tough test for 1st time DetNews.com
Tests will hurt kids, critics say Orlando Sentinel
No Child Left Behind pits fail against fair Chicago Daily Herald
Tutoring eludes many of city poor (Philadelphia Inquirer)
In need of a tutorial on tutoring (Chicago Tribune)
Tale of Two Letters (Teach and Learn)