Arizona’s legislative session is nearing the end, with major education reform legislation pending. Most notable of these is the “Truth in Advertising” bill. Senate Bill 1286 will require the state Department of Education to assign letter grades to Arizona public schools based upon overall performance and academic gains over time. The proposal is modeled after similar reforms in Florida.
For many years, experts all over the country have been talking about reducing racial and ethnic gaps in student achievement. I am happy to say that at least one state has done something about it. Want to guess which one?
This chart shows the national average for white students (blue line), the national average for Hispanic students (black line), and the statewide average for Hispanic students in Florida (red line). Florida’s Hispanic students went from being 25 points below the national average of white students in 1998 (approximately two and a half grade levels) to a mere six points below the national average of white students in 2009. In fact, if we see the same amount of improvement on the next National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, Florida’s Hispanic students will tie the national reading average of white children in 2011. Florida’s experience shows how to eliminate the achievement gap.
Here is the comparable chart for Arizona:
At the current pace of improvement over the past decade, Arizona Hispanic students would tie the nationwide average around 2090!
Fortunately, many in the Arizona Legislature seem serious about enacting far-reaching education reform. Florida has shown us there is no need for everyone reading this email to be long dead before Arizona finally closes its achievement gap.
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research for the Goldwater Institute.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: New national test scores show urgent need for education reform
Goldwater Institute: Florida reading test scores keep climbing while Arizona flatlines
Goldwater Institute: Breaking the Link Between Poverty and Low Achievement
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research for the Goldwater Institute. Prior to joining Goldwater, Ladner was director of state projects at the Alliance for School Choice, where he provided support and resources for state-based school choice efforts. Ladner has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform. Ladner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received both a Masters and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Houston. Ladner previously served as director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute and as vice president of policy and communications at Children First America. 
If Mr. Ladner actually lived in Florida, he would notice that the high school grading system has been changed. He would recall that our state’s reading test scores were inflated for grade 3, causing an investaigation by the BUROS Institute, who suggested it unwise to tie high stakes to a single indicator. He may even know that our test, the FCAT , has been called the most misused test. The public recently defeated the increased high stakes (this time, losing a job and or certification) in a bill very much desired by Jeb Bush and friends. The state organized via Facebook groups and saved education from further invasion of a political agenda. Research Florida for yourself. I recommend looking at dropout rate, college students needing remediation, ACT and SAT scores, and pending lawsuits. Decide for yourself.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2009/01/national-report.html
Diane-
Good to see you again. Just by way of introductions for everyone, this is Diane, my volunteer cyber-stalker from Florida. Diane is not impressed by the fact that Florida’s Hispanics outscore or tie 31 statewide averages for all students, nor that their African Americans now outscore or tie 11 statewide averages, after making tremendous progress since 1998.
Instead, she is obsessed with the idea that somehow the state of Florida’s state exam is unfair by which I take it to mean “unfair to some teachers.”
Diane is also right that I do not live in Florida. I live in Arizona, one of the 11 states whose 4th grade reading scores for ALL students fall below those for both Florida’s Hispanics, African Americans, Free and Reduced Lunch eligible and free and reduced lunch eligible Hispanics.
Given that I live in Arizona, I want this same type of success for children in my state. I have a fundamental philosophical difference with Diane in that I believe that the public school system should be run primarily with the interests of students in mind, rather than the adults. I’m crazy that way.
I also believe that if one of the costs of getting this type of improvement in Florida was to hurt the feelings of some of the people working in a school system that ranked near the bottom of the states in 1998, that it is a small price to pay.