Published: January 15, 1997

Though Numbers May Be Accurate, Some Data Hold Very Little Meaning

The New Jersey education department last month released its annual school report card, a compilation of information on every school in the state.

And to help parents compare schools, The New York Times published a table of some of the information, including test scores, per-pupil funding, and graduation information. Among other data, the table said that Camden's Woodrow Wilson High School had a graduation rate of 123 percent, one of the highest in New Jersey.

Could this be the same school that writer Jonathan Kozol highlighted in Savage Inequalities , his 1991 book on the plight of urban school systems? Mr. Kozol wrote: "Of the nearly 1,400 children who attend this school, more than 800 drop out in the course of four years. About 200...