[azemt]

ANy time there's a report talking about statistics, I keep this old adage in mind:

Figures dont lie, but liars figure.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Without random assignment -- or at least tracking the progress of individual students who change schools -- there are all sorts of possibilities that the researchers can't rule out. One obvious one: students, who are having the most trouble in public school, are more likely to switch to a private school than those who are doing well in public schools. These students could be doing much better in private schools, than they would have in a public school -- but the research won't settle that, because of faulty methodology.

[Captain Rhino]

Well here's a press release that isn't going to make it into the evening news.