KC schools look at MAP testing data

Today's Kansas City Star features a look at KC schools' reactions to the recently released MAP test results. These tests, as most of you are well aware, are the basis of how school success, fairly or unfairly, is judged:

And with so many changes this year, officials such as Liberty’s George Curry are wondering how to measure their progress.

Curry, executive director of assessment for the Liberty district, said: "We're anxious to see other districts' scores to kind of look at how well we stacked up across the state."

As I noted in the Sept. 3 Turner Report, state officials need to take a close look at the scores, since the simple comparison I did between schools in the Joplin area and schools in the Springfield area in seventh and eighth grade communication arts scores would seem to indicate a substantial difference in the way these tests were graded. I am almost certain we will see similar problems emerge in other areas of the state.