Researchers Compare Florida Testing, NCLB, But Critics Pan Study

Student test scores rose faster under Florida’s high-stakes testing program than they did under the federal program that was partly modeled after it, a study concludes.

The study, which was presented by Harvard University researchers at a British economics conference last month, compares academic gains Florida elementary school students made in one year under the state’s A+ Accountability Plan with those that came a year later as requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act kicked in across the state.

Although limited in scope, the study drew intense criticism last week from education researchers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. They attacked the study as much for the way in which it was made public as for its findings. Academics complained that authors Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West had acted “irresponsibly” by allowing their report to be passed along to reporters without getting it vetted...