We seem to be informationally challenged here. It would be difficult to reproduce the prodigious ignorance so expensively cultivated in government schools. I'm sure that a very enterprising homeschooler might be able to do it, but, again, it would take a determined, sustained effort. After all, any homeschooler aspiring to the level of pedagogical malpractice found in government schools would have to achieve results like the following (please bear in mind that there are 3 categories of achievement "basic", "proficient", and "advanced". Anything below proficient is below grade level) :
(2005 NAEP Science)4th, 8th, and 12th grade science: 71%, 71%, and 82%, respectively, below proficient or advanced levels
(2005 NAEP Math - 12th grade results not announced yet)4th and 8th grade math: 64% and 70%, respectively, below proficient or advanced
(2001 NAEP) 4th, 8th, and 12th grade history: 82%, 83%, and 89%, respectively, below proficient or advanced levels
(2002 NAEP Reading - full 2005 results not yet released)4th, 8th, and 12th grade reading: 69%, 67%, and 64%, respectively, below proficient or advanced levels.
In evaluating these results, bear in mind that the 12th grade results enjoy the benefit of a 30% to 40% dropout rate by what are typically the least able students. No one knows the actual dropout rates because of rampant lying by the government school administrators. Then, there is also the score inflation resulting from gaming "accomodations" and "exclusions" to factor in - but explaining that is an advanced course.
Now, one can always take the NEA/Gerald Bracey line that the NAEP standards are too high. But in testimony before the NAEP's board of governors it was pointed out that the "advanced" math questions on the proposed 8th-grade NAEP were equivalent to average math questions for 5th graders in Singapore. International results for PISA and TIMSS further indicate that whatever the standards are in government schools for math and science, they aren't very high. In fact, it just could be that schools in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, etc. are held in higher regard than schools here because they crush our students in international comparisons.
The NEA/Bracey line continues by pointing to the much "better" results shown on state accountability tests. These tests, however, are designed under the supervision of the state ed industry and are dumbed down to get results that will keep parents from finding out that junior is slowly but surely being prepared to be among the hewers of wood and drawers of water of the 21st century. To illustrate, in one state that is said to have produced an education "miracle" the hardest questions on the exit level accountability test require students to know, for example, what a "control group" is, identify Stalin as an ally during WWII, and recognize the use of "hisself" in a sentence as a mistake. Again, these are examples of the hardest questions measured by "miss" rates. The question on what a control group is was missed by 81% of the expensively institutionalized 17 year-olds. Because there were 4 possible answers to each question, monkeys pushing buttons could have done better.
If you look at the data state by state, you find that relatively "non-diverse" states such as Iowa, Indiana, south Dakota, and North Dakota have NAEP scores only slightly less appalling than the national scores.
For your delectation, I have copied below something put together by a group of education activists in Iowa who discovered that parents are being taken for ride by our highly trained, unpaid, under-appreciated, and overworked government school employees. (for more see www.iowalive.net)
WHY, HOW TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS CHEAT AND GET CAUGHT
What you are about to read is likely the most comprehensive discussion and presentation of a chart and table related to public school cheating ever assembled. Iowalive net workers were among the first to recognize and report poor public school performance and cheating--and were attacked and discredited by some for doing so. Iowalive persevered and now national media are daily complaining and reporting evidence of school cheating. Enter 'school cheating' into Google and you will find: Results 1 - 10 of about 12,900,000 for school cheating. That is nearly 13 million references, more than double what it was a year ago.
The New York Times best selling book, "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner sheds considerable light on school cheating--that follows and supports what Iowalive has been reporting for quite some time. A professor at the University of Chicago, Mr. Levitt uses statistics to examine school cheating. He was instrumental in ferreting out the teachers caught cheating in Chicago. Iowalive uses similar, and even more sophisticated methods to catch cheaters.
Why do teachers cheat? Because it pays and they think they can get away with it! Why is this? Because it helps them APPEAR to 'meet' NCLB requirements, to get Teacher of the Year and other awards, to get bonuses, because few people suspect it or look for it, it is rarely detected and is seldom if ever punished. But times are changing fast. Cheating teachers were found and punished in both Chicago and Dallas school districts--as have some in Iowa. Iowalive has investigated, listed and ranked the cheating level of schools in Iowa on website: http://www.iowalive.net/ranking8.htm for all to see. Iowalive previously ranked cheating schools in the Cedar Rapids school district--the district Iowalive found to be the worst cheating district in Iowa.
How do teachers cheat? In many ways, some of which are: Writing test answers on the board, correcting answers on tests, telling the answers, allowing improper use of computers, teaching to the test or the test itself, telling students how to guess and fill in the answer sheets, filling in the blanks in the answer sheet, and by allowing extra time to take the test.
How do cheaters get caught? They are most easily caught by using statistics and algorithms to examine test results. With these methods, irregularities and patterns are easily detected and analyzed to the extent the person doing the cheating can be easily identified. Freakonomics describes in detail how teacher corrected test answers were easily found--and shows the actual answers in tables comparing a cheating teacher with a non-cheating teacher. The book also describes how to catch teachers who cheat in other ways. Iowalive knows how to do it. All the data needed to catch teacher and school cheaters is available from the schools and the Iowa Testing Program--who fight to prevent its release.
How does cheating hurt honest teachers? In many ways, some of which are: students in an honest class following a cheating teacher appear to be losing ground in the honest teacher's class, cheaters get undeserved pay raises and recognition--which makes an honest teacher's performance look worse, cheaters can exert more influence on education matters than can honest teachers, and since there is no protection, encouragement or reward for whistle blowers, an honest teacher can be attacked and discredited for reporting a teacher or administrator for cheating.
How do school administrators cheat? In many ways, some of which are: discarding answer sheets of low scoring students, deleting low scores, inflating test scores, giving teachers copies of tests in advance, simply reporting falsely inflated scores.
How does the Iowa Department of Education Cheat? It cheats by selecting a fraudulent Proficiency standard (40th National Percentile Rank--NPR) that claims students are Proficient when they are actually scoring one or more grades below enrolled grade level. The following chart illustrates the false/fraudulent claims.
How did schools get caught cheating? Nation wide National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test score data, as shown in the following table, caught the states using low Proficiency standards to claim students were performing at grade level when they were not. Iowa was among the worst of the states using fraudulent Proficiency standards--as shown by its 19th state cheating rank.
As many of you recall, Register editors accused Texas of cheating profusely--got into a snit and wrote the ill advised 5-26-2003 editorial telling Iowa school officials to CHEAT by keeping two sets of books and doing anything legal to make Iowa schools look better than they are.
Only Iowalive protested the editorial and has continuously asked Register editors to retract it. NOT THE GOVERNOR, ONE SUPERINTENDENT--SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER, IOWA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, STATE BOARD OF EDUCATIONAL EXAMINERS BOARD MEMBER, ISEA MEMBER, TEACHER, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR, BOARD OF REGENTS MEMBER OR DOE OFFICIAL PROTESTED THE AWFUL EDITORIAL. NOT ONE!!
There can be no dispute--the Iowa public education system is corrupt and condones cheating from the Governor down.
The table below shows Mississippi is the worst cheating state and Missouri is the most honest state--and is ranked 45th in cheating because five states do not even test students. Missouri student achievement is low, the same as Iowa at 33% actually reading at or above the 4th grade level, and everyone in Missouri honestly knows it--and is working to improve it. This is not the case in Iowa, where school officials are making excuses and trying to hide it. Should Missouri have minted a school house on its quarter the same as Iowa? Scroll down to find a ranking table showing Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin tied for 22nd in the U. S. in 4th grade NAEP reading.
STATE CHEATING RANKING FOR 04-05 SCHOOL YEAR
(go to www.iowalive.net for the informative table)
Eye-opening post. Thanks!
Excellent job throughout this thread! Congratulations.