Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

Higher State Standards—No Chance to Meet Them

December 19, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

I enjoyed reading your article “Researchers Ask Whether NCLB’s Goals for Proficiency Are Realistic” (Nov. 29, 2006). But I was discouraged, as I am so often, by the sheer lack of knowledge on the part of those who create and enact educational policy.

From my perspective, there is no realistic hope that our state will achieve 100 percent proficiency by 2014, as the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates. This is not because of anything our skilled and dedicated teachers and administrators do or do not do. It is more a function of the state’s test and how rigorously its performance cut-scores are set. Realistically—and mathematically, based on the normal curve—it will be impossible for South Carolina to achieve “proficiency for all.”

I’m not surprised that some state leaders and members of Congress don’t want to make significant and realistic changes to the federal law. This is probably because their states look pretty good when it comes to NCLB outcomes. South Carolina would look pretty good, too, if we used their performance standards. But our state could, in fact, serve as the “poster child” for those that have set high standards with no realistic way of achieving 100 percent proficiency.

I look forward to more discussion that brings out the inconsistencies, unrealistic expectations, and lack of uniformity across the spectrum of states’ tests and accountability systems.

Jason B. McCreary

Director of Research, Evaluation, and Accountability

Greenville County Schools

Greenville, S.C.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the December 20, 2006 edition of Education Week as Higher State Standards—No Chance to Meet Them

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read