The U. S. government just provided the public with much the same information Education Next (Ednext) shared with readers a year ago: A comparison of state standards in reading and math at the 4th and 8th grade levels.
In a recently released report, the U. S. Department of Education uses data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to rank the relative rigor of each state’s proficiency standards. Its study is based upon data that is now more than two years old. Its cost? It must be at least a million dollar study, if all the direct and indirect costs are calculated, as the study involved a complicated data collection effort. I invite interested readers to inquire of department officials as to just how much its study added to the nation’s debt.
