These test-score jitters are a sign of high standards - The Boston Globe:
"The federal No Child Left Behind law sets targets requiring every student to reach “proficiency’’ by 2014. States, which set their own proficiency standards, are expected to reach consistently higher points each year along that federal trajectory. It’s a lot easier for states with lower academic standards and easier tests to hit the annual mark. But that’s not the way of education reform in Massachusetts. State education commissioner Mitchell Chester wisely insists that he is “dead opposed’’ to making the MCAS test easier in order to look good on a federal report card. It’s that attitude that elevates Massachusetts students to the top of comparison charts on national and even international standardized tests."
"The federal No Child Left Behind law sets targets requiring every student to reach “proficiency’’ by 2014. States, which set their own proficiency standards, are expected to reach consistently higher points each year along that federal trajectory. It’s a lot easier for states with lower academic standards and easier tests to hit the annual mark. But that’s not the way of education reform in Massachusetts. State education commissioner Mitchell Chester wisely insists that he is “dead opposed’’ to making the MCAS test easier in order to look good on a federal report card. It’s that attitude that elevates Massachusetts students to the top of comparison charts on national and even international standardized tests."
