Lynda

Very interesting. Of course, the shrub crew was immediately out saying that
the study was bought and paid for by the demos which is clearly contradicted
by the fact that Rand has done several studies which were very critical of
some of the demo pushed agendas.

Lynda
----- Original Message -----

> WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - The Texas education "miracle," hailed by Republican
> presidential nominee George W. Bush as proof of his power in the
classroom,
> may well be a myth, according to a study to be released Tuesday.
>
> THE STUDY BY the nonprofit RAND Corp., a private think tank, found
> that dramatic increases in tests administered by Texas are not reflected
in
> national exams taken by the same youngsters.
> In fact, while Texas found the gaps in achievement shrinking
between
> white and non-white students, the national tests showed them actually
> increasing slightly in some areas.
> Researchers offered no definitive explanation for the "stark
> differences" in results on the tests.
> But they said it may be that Texas educators, who are awarded for
> student achievement, may coach youngsters to do well on state tests.
>
> 'THE 'TEXAS MIRACLE' IS A MYTH'
> "I think 'the Texas miracle' is a myth," said Stephen Klein, a
senior
> RAND researcher who helped lead the study, "What do Test Scores in Texas
> Tell Us?"
>
> "There is nothing remarkable in Texas education," Klein told
> Reuters. "With few exceptions, notably fourth-grade math, gains in Texas
in
> recent years were about the same as in the (rest of the) United States."
> Bush, Texas governor since 1995, has cited big increases in state
> test scores as evidence he has turned around his schools and can upgrade
the
> nation's classrooms.
> Mark Fabiani, a deputy campaign manager for Democratic presidential
> nominee Al Gore, jumped on the RAND study, saying, "The very foundation of
> the Bush campaign just crumbled."
> "This RAND report reveals serious questions about Mr. Bush's
repeated
> claims that his education reforms have worked," Fabiani said.
> Gore's running mate, Joseph Lieberman, added, "We all hope and pray
> for miracles, but they are not occurring in the Texas school system."
>
> HEAT FROM BUSH CAMPAIGN
> The report immediately drew heat from the Bush campaign for its
> narrow focus on the state of Texas, its seeming contradiction with an
> earlier, more comprehensive Rand study praising the state's academic
> achievements and the timing of its release.
> "It's findings are erroneous," said Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes.
> "The timing is highly suspect."
> Rand President James Thomson said timing of the paper's release was
> based only on completion of peer reviews and revision. "We don't produce
> findings for political reasons," he said.
> Klein said his research singled out Texas because its state test
> scores rose sharply and were widely publicized. The work began last spring
> and was funded by the think tank and not outside groups, he said.
>
> METHODOLOGY QUESTIONED
> Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said a number of other studies,
including
> one released by the RAND Corp. in July, showed Texas among those leading
the
> nation in reducing the achievement gap between white and non-white
students.
> He also questioned the methodology used by the researchers.
> "This new study is based on only 20 school districts out of 1,044
in
> Texas," Bartlett said. "It is not representative of Texas."
> "He obviously didn't read the study," Klein replied. "We looked at
> schools in every district. This study has the latest data."
> "We started this project in April and it has nothing to do with the
> election," Klein said. "We wanted to find out what was going on in Texas."
> The report compares scores from Texas' own test, the Texas
Assessment
> of Academic Skills test, with Texas students' performance on the National
> Assessment of Academic Progress, a national sampling test used voluntarily
> by 44 states.
> Looking at how fourth- and eighth-graders scored in reading and
math
> from 1994 to 1998, it found that Texas children made higher gains on the
> state test than on the national test. For instance, Texas fourth-graders
> improved in reading from 1994 to 1998 at about the same rate as other
> children nationwide, but the state tests showed far greater gains in
> reading.
> "The large discrepancies between TAAS and NAEP results raise
serious
> questions about the validity of the TAAS scores," RAND researchers wrote.
> "We do not know the sources of these differences," they said.
> "However, one plausible explanation ... is that many schools are devoting
a
> great deal of class time to highly specific TAAS preparation."
> The report said another factor can be that though the TAAS exam
> changes year to year, "one version looks a lot like another."
> "Thus, giving students instruction and practice on how to answer
the
> specific types of questions ... could very well improve their scores," it
> said.
> "In an effort to improve their TAAS scores, some schools have
> retained outside contractors to work with teachers, students or both," it
> said.
> The report said the starkest differences between Texas students'
> performance on the state test and the national test were among the race
gaps
> between white and minority children. On the national test, the race gap
was
> large and increased slightly. The Texas test showed a much smaller gap,
> decreasing slightly.
> Klein said one possible explanation for the high number of students
> doing well in the Texas exam is that TAAS is not particularly tough, so
even
> less skilled youngsters are able to score as well - or nearly as well - as
> more accomplished ones.
> The Texas tests are used to decide whether children move to the
next
> grade or graduate - and to reward or punish their schools, mostly through
> funding.
>
> The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
>
>
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