Testing

I'll admit that testing is a prickly issue in many ways, and I will likely rattle of a few rants on it. The current topic has to do with diferences between state and federal test results (read at CNN).

Among the quotes: "In North Carolina, 88 percent of eighth-graders were proficient or better in reading on the state test. On the federal test, 27 percent were."

Having taught--only a little--at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which consists of the cream of the crop of NC high school students, I must say this seems about right. If states set thier own standards for proficiency and federal funding is dependent on the results, then the natural extension is to make the standards as lax as possible while still maintaining some semblence of credibility. Solving the issue is not trivial, but the results presented should come as a surprise to no one.