Schools Matter: Is Your State Ed Department Off to See the Wizard?

Schools Matter: Is Your State Ed Department Off to See the Wizard?:

Is Your State Ed Department Off to See the Wizard?

by Jim Horn

Agricultural statistician Bill Sanders has been on a non-stop sales campaign since 1992, when he closed his first state deal for his value-added assessment system to in Tennessee, while maintaining proprietary control over the statistical formalae. Since 1992, Sanders has written widely about his model but rarely in peer-reviewed journals where his calculations would be subject to professional scrutiny.

Educators and legislators are finally starting to ask questions, particularly since the stakes have been raised with student and teacher well-being made dependent upon secret calculations. Today's piece at Valerie Strauss's page is a good example.

Even the mainstream press is starting to print the views of those outside the oligarchs workshops. A clip from Sunday's Plain Dealer:

. . . .Value-added has been widely criticized because SAS Inc., the outside company that Ohio pays to calculate it, keeps part of the calculation process a secret. Since the company refuses to