To the Editor:
As a California teacher, I cannot feel sympathetic about Arizona’s low ranking on the Morgan Quitno Press Inc. study (“Ariz. Chief Angry Over Ranking,” Nov. 1, 2006).
When I was researching the difficulty level of various states’ standardized tests, I was struck by how relatively hard California’s were in comparison to nearly every other state’s, but especially Arizona’s. I would say Arizona’s math expectations for grades 3-6, as reflected by its tests, are at minimum one full grade level lower than California’s. Yet, for No Child Left Behind Act accountability purposes, these tests are counted as equivalent.
Susan Weikel Morrison
Fresno, Calif.