Why our metrics for quality are not objective
This was written by Larry Cuban, a former high school social studies teacher (14 years, including seven at Cardozo and Roosevelt high schools in the District), district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA) and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for 20 years. His latest book is "As Good As It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin." This appeared on his blog. By Larry Cuban Choosing the right metric to measure a medical therapy or school effectiveness is not a fact-filled, objective decision. It is subjective and packed with trade-offs. Consider the metrics used since 1971 when president Richard Nixon signed legislation declaring a "War on Cancer.*" In 1985, one researcher used the measure of how many lives were saved with chemotherapy and exams that detected the onset of cancer. He used the national cancer registry to determine how many Americans were diagnosed
