Productivity growth (and its connections with schools) may be mysterious, but experts continue to document an expanding U.S. economy. A University of Wisconsin study described in the Fall 1999 "ERS Spectrum" found a mismatch between teachers' actual and recommended grading practices. Maybe the literature is unreasonable. (MLH)

Describes five types of curriculum differentiation identified in tracking research based on analysis of case study databases of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Case studies include interviews with educators, parents, and students in Germany, Japan, and the United States. Compares parental influence on student tracking…

The days in which the school practitioner could get by without a knowledge of statistics are over. Educators today need to be able to evaluate data, and data are statistics. It is necessary to deal with statistics when they appear and to provide them when they are needed or expected. This book attempts to provide an understanding of statistics,…

This guide is designed to take the mystery out of educational research data and to help educators become better, and more critical, readers of facts, figures, charts, and graphs about U.S. public schools. Educators will also become better able to answer the questions of parents, students, and the community. A brief historical look at the loss in…

Critics have long claimed that kids are getting dumber. Only in recent decades have schools been blamed for students' perceived ineptitude and our nation's declining competitiveness. Education indicators sagged around 1965 for a decade, then climbed to new highs. The schools shouldered the blame for the late 1980s recession, but got no credit for…

Twelfth Bracey report on the condition of public education includes commentary on testing, Edison Schools, No Child Left Behind Act, educational vouchers, tuition tax credits, and impoverished schools. Includes recipients of several Bracey awards such as "The Get Thee to a Nunnery, Rick Mills Award." (Contains 66 references.) (PKP)

A research psychologist and education consultant offers school board members some principles for appraising statistics: (1) distinguish between rates and numbers; (2) distinguish between ranks and scores; (3) try to "look through" the pictorial representation of data; (4) double check the data for accuracy; and (5) consider the source of the data.…

Reporting how many people scored at a certain level or how many people passed a cut score is not the same thing as reporting the scores themselves. The newest (indefensible) cliche, derived from international test-score comparisons, says American kids get dumber the longer they stay in school. (MLH)

Reviews research by June Gordon, appearing in the June issue of "Teachers College Record," that explored why Asian Americans were underrepresented in the teaching profession. Major reasons that Asian Americans avoided the teaching profession were parent pressure, lack of self-confidence, fear of working in an unfamiliar environment, and…

Report on the current trends and issues in American public education involving personal views of state-mandated testing, the 2000 NAEP reading and math assessments, President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" initiative, TIMSS-R Benchmarking Studies, education vouchers, charter schools, and education management organizations. (Contains 52…

Replies to the immediately preceding article. The author contends that the cause of incompetence resides more in the overall ambience of disaffection in the nation than in the schools. (Author/IRT)

Tackles Arnold Packer's assertion that U.S. workers' productivity has declined in recent years. The quality of education in developed nations is only loosely coupled to national economic health. Many educators and economists are increasingly skeptical of the notion that better schools mean a more prosperous nation. (MLH)

Chronicles the nation's testing madness, highlighting the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System's foibles, including its categorizations of "test-effective" teachers. Examines research on private/public school comparisons, failure of a Chilean voucher system, a privatization conference's testimonial proceedings, the class-size…

Given only correlation coefficient, one cannot infer causality. This lesson has been lost on Secretary of Education Richard Riley, who recently intoned that "taking rigorous mathematics courses ... early in secondary schools is a gateway to college and future employment." Students taking such classes have probably already been identified…

Presents tables showing that the variability among states for results of the 1992 International Assessment of Educational Progress and National Assessment of Educational Progress is as great as that among countries. Also, Asian-American students score higher than any other students in the world. First- and second-ranked states are listed for math…