Sunday, October 4, 2015

The I word



This week, it wasn't CPS's bond rating that was downgraded. Instead, four years of inflated graduation rates were "adjusted" to discount the quick fixes, like numbers manipulation, that district schools engaged in. Such data-driven solutions tricks included drop-outs being coded as transfers or home-schooled. Whoops.
Then, CPS staff received an oddly congratulatory email from Forrest + Janice in their inboxes tonight. It said, in part:

"This week, you accomplished something that CPS has never done before: helped our students score a record high 18.2 on the ACT test. 

These results aren’t a coincidence, and they certainly aren’t a mistake. These accomplishments are the result of the years of hard work you’ve dedicated to our children, beginning in Pre-K through high school."

It would be nice to think that scores from the ACT are ironclad; however, this is the same company that sent CPS tests to give students that were previously available on the internet. Meaning, results from the tests freshmen and sophomores took were thrown out because some students had artificially inflated scores. 

Nope, no coincidences or mistakes here! As you were everyone!