So, if students ar taking tougher courses and getting better grades but are still scoring miserably on national tests, isn't that an indication that, as they say in accounting circles, the books are being cooked?
"I think that we are sleeping through a crisis," said Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David Driscoll, a governing board member. He said the low test scores should push lawmakers and educators to enact school reforms.
The new reading scores show no change since 2002, the last time the test was given.
"We should be getting better. There's nothing good about a flat score," Winick said.
"We should be getting better." No kidding. Wait, I know! Let's spend half a billion dollars on buildings.
I know, I know. That was a cheap shot. The two issues are unrelated. But, jeez. It's become clear that just increasing spending on education isn't the answer. The fact that nobody has declared an academic crisis requiring half a billion dollars to remedy can't go unremarked on, though.
