AND AS EVERYONE TELLS US, NCLB IS EXCLUSIVELY DOWN TO W:

Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Maria Glod and Daniel de Vise, 10/02/08, Washington Post)

The achievement gap between economic groups, long a major frustration for educators, has narrowed in the region's suburban schools since President Bush signed the law in 2002, according to Maryland and Virginia test data.

In Montgomery County, for instance, students in poverty have earned better scores on Maryland's reading test in each of the past five years, slicing in half the 28 percentage-point gulf that separated their pass rate from the county average. They also have made a major dent in the math gap. [...]

The results show substantial progress in the Washington area toward the law's core goal: raising performance of disadvantaged children. Although concerns persist about the law's emphasis on standardized tests, many educators say it has forced schools to concentrate more systematically on each struggling student.

"As much as I'd say I wish we didn't have to necessarily take these tests, I know it's made us better," said Angela Robinson, principal at Loudoun County's Sugarland Elementary School, which reached achievement targets under the law this year after falling short in 2007. "Before NCLB was put in place, yes, we paid attention to those groups, but it was not with the same focus that we do now."

There's nothing funnier than hearing conservatives--who've complained for thirty years that schools don't teach the basics but waste time on sociological projects--complain that kids are being taught to the tests that are testing the basics.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 3, 2008 7:22 AM