[proxy_user]

I once read somewhere that a four-year-old child in Scarsdale uses a larger spoken vocabulary than a mother on welfare in the slums. Don't know if it's true or not, but it gives you some idea of the distance involved.

[cricket]

"I once read somewhere that a four-year-old child in Scarsdale uses a larger spoken vocabulary than a mother on welfare in the slums. Don't know if it's true or not, but it gives you some idea of the distance involved."

Having observed the latest crop of 'young', younger, and youngest. . .. . .have no doubt about the vocabulary. . .and their comprehension as well.

[daviddennis]

... and with different words, too.

Interesting article. Kudos to the author; few people would do such a careful analysis.

Seems to me that any student with an even vaguely passable education should be capable of passing the test without extensive training, so I'm not sure what the point of test prep in suburban areas is; why bother spending time on it?

What this does in the inner city seems highly commendable. Considering how bad most education seems to be, on balance I'd say the tests are doing some good. And, I might add, are a credit to President Bush.

D