Purdue News

June 2000 'On Shaky Ground' skews the truth about education in Indiana Marilyn J. Haring A statistician can take almost any number or rank and create almost any desired effect. Never has this been more true than in the Hudson Institute's report "On Shaky Ground." This report claims that most students enrolled in Indiana's educational system consistently "underperform their peers in most other states." To make this claim, the Indianapolis-based institute relied heavily on the subjective rankings and numbers garnered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This particular assessment system was promoted by the National Assessment Governing Board, an independent, bipartisan organization in Washington D.C., and received much attention when it was first published in the mid-90s. However, in the spring of 1999, the National Research Council urged that the ranking system used by this organization be discarded because it was "fundamentally flawed." Nonetheless, the research and ranking system were used as evidence against Indiana throughout the institute's 2000 report. Not only does this report misrepresent the facts, officials from the institute are traveling around the state to hold educational roundtable discussions on their conclusions. These meetings have been held in Anderson, Bloomington, Crown Point, Elkhart, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Lafayette, South Bend and Valparaiso. One of several problems is that the meetings offer no recommendations for the alleged failings in the educational structure in Indiana. Beyond that, let's look at the "facts" surrounding this report. • Do Indiana students in every demographic category perform at a lower level than their peers? Certainly not. Gerald W. Bracey, a respected Stanford researcher and author, reviewed the report and noted that fourth-grade Indiana math students ranked fifth nationally on the National Assessment of Educational Progress report with an average score of 229. Had their average been a mere four points higher, they would have ranked first, and had their average been a mere six points lower, they would have ranked 28th. Thus, small differences in scores were overemphasized by this report. • Do Indiana students score 17 points below their peers on the SAT? This is true, but misleading, especially when you compare 17 points to a total range of 1200. To make an accurate assessment of the SAT performance of Indiana students, they should have been compared to other states with a similar demographic profile. Instead, the Hudson report compared Indiana with New Hampshire, a state with a very high proportion of residents who have a bachelor's degree. Why didn't the report compare Indiana to states with the same type of agricultural base, such as Iowa, where 5 percent of the students took the SAT compared to the 60 percent of Hoosier students who took the test? • Is the performance of Indiana students "abysmal" on Advanced Placement tests? Nationwide about 63 percent of students who take this test pass, while in Indiana the rate is 50 percent. This is not as good as the average, but not abysmal. This rate does rank Indiana 49th in the nation, but again we are using a ranking system where a few points can move someone from fifth to fiftieth. The question here should be why Indiana students have less success than the average. Is it because Indiana students are not prepared for such tests — a primary focus at prep schools — and what counseling do students receive to take the tests? It should be noted that Indiana students have experienced a substantial rise of three points on the average score on this test during the past eight years. There is so much good to celebrate about Indiana's educational system that it is dismaying that a report like this is promoted across the state. Here are a few achievements to consider: • The recently implemented Indiana Assessment System of Educational Proficiencies has gained national attention for its assessment of special education students. The program, which was developed at Purdue University, has been adopted for use by eight other states. • Indiana students are immediately enrolling in two- or four-year colleges at steadily increasing numbers. Unfortunately, you will not find those achievements in the Hudson report "On Shaky Ground." The report shows disdain for the intelligence of the people of Indiana. Let's move beyond the finger-pointing and work together to improve our educational system. Marilyn J. Haring is the dean of Purdue University's School of Education and a professor of counseling and development. To the Purdue News and Photos Page