Section file 3 of 6 · Measure3 pages
The tests are the argument, not the evidence
NAEP, PISA, graduation-rate arithmetic.
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One test is designed to be compared and one is not
NAEP samples nationally on a stable framework, which is why it can be tracked over decades where state tests cannot.
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International comparison compares systems, not schools
PISA measures fifteen-year-olds across countries, and the ranking it produces is read far beyond what the instrument supports.
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The graduation rate is a definition before it is a number
The four-year adjusted cohort rate fixed a definition that had previously varied enough to make states incomparable.
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- One test is designed to be compared and one is notNAEP samples nationally on a stable framework, which is why it can be tracked over decades where state tests cannot.
- International comparison compares systems, not schoolsPISA measures fifteen-year-olds across countries, and the ranking it produces is read far beyond what the instrument supports.
- The graduation rate is a definition before it is a numberThe four-year adjusted cohort rate fixed a definition that had previously varied enough to make states incomparable.