Massachusetts Aces Education Report Card
EDUCATION
The New Bedford Standard-Times
Valerie Sullivan
Boston University Washington News Service
February 28, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 —Massachusetts finished at the top of the class in a state-by-state report card on educational effectiveness released Wednesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Bay State received more A’s than any other state in the nation in in the nine categories that the report examined.
Overall, however, the states “aren’t making the grade… and are failing America’s children,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who said that the education system has become a “critical national emergency.”
The report, designed to identify “the leaders and laggards in education,” analyzed existing data rather than conducting new studies, said Arthur J. Rothkopf, senior vice president and counselor to the chamber’s president. It was produced in association with a pair of think tanks, the liberal Center for American Progress and the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Massachusetts ranked first among all 50 states in academic achievement as measured by the percentage of 4th and 8th graders who scored at or above the proficiency level in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam.
According to the report, 22 percent of low-income 8th graders in Massachusetts scored at or above the proficient level on the exam, earning Massachusetts another A in academic achievement of low-income and minority students. The national average for low-income 8th graders was 13 percent.
Massachusetts also received an A for return on education dollars.
“Some states appear to spend their [funds] far more efficiently than their peers,” said Frederick M. Hess, the American Enterprise Institute’s director of education policy. Massachusetts is one of those states, said the report, which controlled for student poverty, students with special needs and the cost of living.
Massachusetts also landed at the top of the report’s “truth in advertising” ranking, identifying the state as exceptionally honest in its reporting of student proficiency. Massachusetts also received A’s in rigor of standards, postsecondary and workforce readiness, and a category examining teacher workforce polices. The state received a B for its efforts to collect and report high-quality education data.
While 90 percent of Massachusetts principals reported a major degree of influence over new teacher hiring, the state only earned a C in flexibility in management and policy. The C is due partially to Massachusetts’ lack of an accredited, Internet-based school. “We favor as much innovation as possible,” Mr. Rothkopf said. The category was one of three not graded on a curve.
Mr. Donahue said statistics tell a story that is “concerning.” According to the report, most of the nation’s 4th and 8th graders are not proficient in either reading or mathematics. About a third of all 9th graders do not graduate from high school within four years. Those who do are often unprepared for either college or the workplace, the report said.
“We say again and again that [America is] going to lead the world. …[but] then the business community leaves [education] to the politicians,” Mr. Donahue said.
He added: “The continued success of the American economy … [and] the vitality of the American dream” is on the line.
Mr. Donahue recommended implementing business practices in education: improving management, collecting better data and encouraging innovation. School principals should have more power, he said.
“The current conditions… are intolerable… and the United States is falling behind,” John D. Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said at the news conference. Mr. Podesta cited a 2002 UNICEF Report that ranked the United States 18th out of 24 nations in terms of education. The cause of our failure is “good intentions” but “insufficient reforms,” Mr. Podesta said.
Mr. Podesta said that teacher quality has the biggest impact on learning. He suggested improving starting pay to attract talented teachers, as well as removing ineffective teachers.
Mr. Donahue saluted teachers who are “dedicated, knowledgeable professionals dedicated to improving the lives of their students,” but said that incompetent teachers are too often protected by rules of tenure. Tenure, he said, was designed to protect those teaching controversial subject matter – not provide a safety net for sub par teachers. “Teachers would be much better respected, better paid, if they admitted a small percentage of their ranks needed to be removed,” Mr. Donahue said.
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