NAEP Proxy Battle Over NCLB

This week's to-and-fro over NAEP scores isn't really about NAEP, which for many years no one has cared much about, but rather about something much more viscerally important: shaping public opinion on whether NCLB is "working" or not.

Young Students Post Solid Gains in Federal Tests NYT
US Report Card: Young readers make big gains CSM
9-year-old Hispanics, blacks show test gains Chicago Tribune
First thoughts about the NAEP Gadfly

I say that the news here has less to do with NCLB than with what's going on in schools and classrooms. Kudos to the kids and the teachers and everyone else who's worked so hard to make things better.