Meets and Exceeds
The ISAT scores are totally awesome and telling. Except when they don't support the mayor's narrative. Then they're just noise.
Emanuel and the new CPS leadership team have repeatedly said the most closely watched category—the one tabulating the percentage of students who “meets and exceeds standards”—is not a good measure. CPS sought to address the issue earlier this year by switching to new school report cards that do not include ISAT scores. Rather, the new report cards show how students perform on one of two national assessments designed to measure growth.
Even so, on the day the Consortium released its report, district officials quickly cited the dramatic gains made by turnaround schools on the ISAT “meets and exceeds” standard. A fact sheet sent to reporters from the district’s communications office touted results from the privately run Academy for Urban School Leadership. “Eight of the ten (AUSL-run turnaround) schools have seen the largest growth