Benchmarking for Success

When people ask me about education, they often want to talk about No Child Left Behind or a related issue of standardized testing. I always love a good education discussion, but a New York Times editorial on Monday pointed out how this debate misses the point—we need tests and accountability, but we need to be sure the results mean something and show us where we need to improve:

Congress hoped that if it required the states to give annual tests in return for federal education aid, state politicians would be encouraged — or at least embarrassed — into improving dismal schools and closing the achievement gap between rich and poor children.

That's not how things have worked out. Many states have gamed the system — and misled voters — devising weak tests, setting low passing scores or changing tests from year to year to prevent accurate comparisons over time. The charade will continue, and children will continue to be shortchanged, until the country develops a rigorous national test keyed to national standards.


This problem is highlighted in a recent study by Policy Analysis for California Education, a research center run by Stanford University and the University of California, that analyzed the testing practices of a dozen states between 1992 and 2006. States that performed swimmingly on their own weak math and reading tests tended to score dismally on the more rigorous federal National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as NAEP.
The Times isn't the only voice calling for higher education standards and accountability. Looking further than just comparisons among states, Dr. Raymond C. Scheppach, current executive director of the National Governors Association, suggests that our poor educational performance relative to other countries is leading us towards a weak economic future, and offers a solution:

To gauge our future competitiveness, the United States needs to know each year how our students are performing compared to their international peers, particularly in relation to major trading partners such as Brazil, Denmark, China and India. International benchmarking will allow us to do this...Over the last two decades, states have provided the leadership to create education standards and assessments. Benchmarking them to international standards is just the next step. Further, most of the expertise necessary to take that next step resides in the states, not the federal government. The existing NCLB framework is helpful, but governors, chief state school officials and legislators understand the urgency of international benchmarking, and they clearly understand the link to competitiveness.

I'm pleased to see national attention being paid to the need for states to have a national or international benchmark against which to measure themselves. Next week, the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development will release the findings from their 2007 international comparison tests, revealing just where American students stand in comparison with their peers in other nations. I agree with the New York Times and Dr. Scheppach that the time has come to ensure that our students are truly prepared for their future in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.