Liars
"[the 2005 NAEP] shows there's an achievement gap in America that is closing; that minority students, particularly in fourth-grade math and fourth-grade reading are beginning to catch up with their Anglo counterparts. And that's positive, and that's important."
--President George W. Bush, 10/19/05
"The results in fourth grade are particularly encouraging, and we are truly heartened by the continued narrowing of the achievement gap."
--Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, 10/19/05
Here's my first reaction to the NAEP results: Wow, that's some impressive spin. One wouldn't think you could find a way to declare victory when fourth-grade reading scores have improved by one point since the implementation of a landmark education law, but I continue to be amazed. Here's the party line, apparently -- the gaps are closing. Except........ not really.
Black/White Gaps (source: NAEP data explorer):
2003 white: 227.1
2005 white: 227.6
2003 black: 197.3
2005 black: 198.9
2003 difference: 29.8
2005 difference: 28.7
So far, so good, right? It's not even worth quibbling that the "gap closing" stems mostly from a tiny gain on the part of the white students. What it is worth quibbling about is that the difference isn't statistically significant!
Says it right there, right on the page (standard error in parenthesis):
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the gap was 1(0.6), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
From 2002 to 2005, the change in the gap was 1(0.8), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
Same story for the Hispanic/White gap and the Free and reduced lunch/non-FRL gap:
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the [H/W] gap was 1(0.8), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the [FRL/non-FRL] gap was 1(0.6), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
If you were curious, the 2003 to 2005 differences for 4th grade math in each of these categories are also not statistically significant.
So, uh, at what point exactly does spin just become flat-out dishonesty?
--President George W. Bush, 10/19/05
"The results in fourth grade are particularly encouraging, and we are truly heartened by the continued narrowing of the achievement gap."
--Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, 10/19/05
Here's my first reaction to the NAEP results: Wow, that's some impressive spin. One wouldn't think you could find a way to declare victory when fourth-grade reading scores have improved by one point since the implementation of a landmark education law, but I continue to be amazed. Here's the party line, apparently -- the gaps are closing. Except........ not really.
Black/White Gaps (source: NAEP data explorer):
2003 white: 227.1
2005 white: 227.6
2003 black: 197.3
2005 black: 198.9
2003 difference: 29.8
2005 difference: 28.7
So far, so good, right? It's not even worth quibbling that the "gap closing" stems mostly from a tiny gain on the part of the white students. What it is worth quibbling about is that the difference isn't statistically significant!
Says it right there, right on the page (standard error in parenthesis):
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the gap was 1(0.6), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
From 2002 to 2005, the change in the gap was 1(0.8), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
Same story for the Hispanic/White gap and the Free and reduced lunch/non-FRL gap:
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the [H/W] gap was 1(0.8), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
From 2003 to 2005, the change in the [FRL/non-FRL] gap was 1(0.6), which does not represent a significant difference between the two years.
If you were curious, the 2003 to 2005 differences for 4th grade math in each of these categories are also not statistically significant.
So, uh, at what point exactly does spin just become flat-out dishonesty?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 11:52 AM.
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