Why is Georgia Celebrating Education Mediocity??

I have wanted to write this post for quite some time, but I needed a week to gain perspective.

Around 10 days ago, EducationWeek released its annual report:  Quality Counts  its national, and state-by-state report card on our education system.    According to their website, the researchers collect information from chief state school officers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia via a comprehensive survey.  This survey collected information "on a range of state-level programs and policies including those related to the teaching profession, standards, assessments and accountability."  I'll come back to the methodology later.

The report was less than flattering, as the nation received a C when graded across six distinct areas of policy and performance:  i) chance for success; ii) K-12 Achievement; iii) Standards, Assessments and Accountability; iv) the Teaching Profession; v) School Finance; and vi) Transitions & Alignment.  No state received an A, and only 9 states received a B minus or better!  

Somehow, Georgia received an overall grade of B minus and was ranked 7th in the nation.  Georgia's Dept. of Education immediately shot out a press release to announce these results.  But why the rush?  Does a ranking matter if it's a battle of mediocrity?   Within the K-12 Achievement rubric, Georgia was graded an F on achievement, one of the 3 elements making up the grade.  How is this possible, then, that it received an average score of C minus in this category.  Where is the measure on graduation rates?    it also received a D minus in the School Finance sub-category, "Spending." 

According to data obtained from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Georgia ranks 35th in 4th grade math, 41st on 8th grade Math, and 35th on 8th grade Reading.   Our graduation rates are still below 50 percent, especially in Atlanta.   in addition, the Atlanta Public Schools are still not out of the woods from the cheating scandal.  APS was recently ordered to repay thousands of dollars in federal bonuses awarded to schools making AYP, which only made it because of erroneous reporting data.   They have a school board largely intact, and a disgraced former Superintendent who does not appear to be held accountable for her failures, no required to repay any bonuses earned due to the cheating scandal.  And finally, we have a primitive constitution that refuses to allow anyone but local school boards to approve the creation of new schools.   Competition drives innovation, and while remedies are currently underway, it will take considerable time to find a way around these archaic rules.  It is very, very difficult to pass a constitutional amendment (requires a 2/3 vote in the Georgia legislature).   Policy makers are doing their best to right this wrong, but it'll take time - time that our children don't have.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether I have combed every detail in the report.   I have seen enough already.  It is clear that these report cards are going to be used by educators to think they are making progress.   Take a look at this blog post which might raise some eyebrows on the methodology behind the Education Week report.

Lets have some  dialogue on how this report was created and whether it makes sense.  From this author's standpoint, it doesn't.  And Georgia should have paused before choosing to celebrate these results.