The AP and Gallup Polls: A Commentary
The theme of this past several days appears to be the national education poll and how much one should (or should not) trust the results. On August 17, the Associated Press (AP) released a twisted version of what they would like for parents to want for their children– high-stakes tests– except that the term “high stakes” does not appear once on AP’s 45-page survey results. I challenged AP on August 18 in this post for both its selective reporting and shaping of survey outcomes.
On August 19, Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post blog, the Answer Sheet, contacted AP for a response to my post. Here is what she received, as reported on her blog on August 21:
I asked the Associated Press to respond to her (Mercedes Schneider’s) analysis, andspokesman Paul Colford said that the AP stands by its poll and accompanying story. He said the AP “had editorial control over the design of the survey and ultimately the interpretation of the results.” [Emphasis added.]
Let’s promote a colossal lie to satisfy the AP poll “major funding” Joyce Foundation and stand by the lie in the face of indisputable truth.
In refusing an explanation, AP spokesman Paul Colford advances the opinion that the