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Despite North Carolina’s "introspective" testing program, researchers are able to employ statistical techniques that make reliable national and international comparisons possible. How does North Carolina compare? See this week’s CommenTerry to find out.

 

Bulletin Board

  • The John W. Pope Civitas Institute will hold its monthly poll luncheon on Wednesday, August 31 at 11:45 am at the Clarion Hotel in downtown Raleigh. One of North Carolina’s most distinguished political analysts, John Davis, will be the guest speaker. To register, call 919-834-2099 or go to http://www.nccivitas.org/events/.
  • Hear about the Civitas Partisan Index, the Civitas Action Conservative Rankings,Redistricting2011 Session recap. Keep up to date about what is going on in North Carolina using tools developed to keep the government accountable and the people well informed. The tour begins on September 6 with stops in Pinehurst (8:30 am to 9:30 am); Fayetteville (12:00 pm to 1:00 pm); and Goldsboro (7:00 pm to 8:00 pm). They will make stops in Wilmington (September 7); Morehead City (September 7); Nags Head (September 8); and Wilson (September 8); and many other locations. Price is $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers, and $15 at the door. Breakfast will be provided. Register online at http://www.nccivitas.org/events/ or call 919-834-2099.
  • The John Locke Foundation is sponsoring a Citizen’s Constitutional Workshop on Saturday, September 10 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm at Grace Christian School in Sanford, NC. Historian Dr. Troy Kickler and political science expert Dr. Michael Sanera will discuss "What the Founders and the State Ratification Conventions Can Teach Us Today." The cost is $8.00 per participant, lunch included. Pre-registration is strongly suggested. For more information or to sign up for the event, visit the Events section of the John Locke Foundation website.
  • Learn what politicians, left-wing economic professors and the liberal media don’t want you to know about economics, all without the confusion and clutter of complicated mathematical equations. Attend the Civitas Institute’s Free Market Academy on Tuesday, September 13 and Thursday, September 15 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm at the Healthy Start Academy library. (Please note: The workshop will be spread out over two nights.) Cost is $5.00. Register online at http://www.nccivitas.org/events/ or call 919-834-2099.
  • The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to the NC History Project website for further information.

 

CommenTerry

 

The bottom line: Comparisons of national and international test scores suggest that North Carolina’s schools are not globally competitive.

 

Earlier this month, Paul Peterson (Harvard University), Ludger Woessmann (University of Munich), Eric Hanushek (Stanford University), and Carlos Lastra-Anadon (Harvard University) published an instructive study, "Globally Challenged: Are U. S. Students Ready to Compete?" The authors answered in the negative.

 

The study compared federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, an international assessment of reading and math proficiency. For the PISA, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) draws a representative sample of 15-year-olds from the nation as a whole. The OECD does not sample school districts, states, or provinces, so researchers cannot use the PISA to compare international achievement with student performance in North Carolina.

 

Peterson et al solved this problem by constructing a statistical "crosswalk" to allow direct comparisons between the PISA and state reading and math performance on the NAEP. The methodology is similar to a 2007 American Institutes of Research study that standardized federal NAEP scores and compared them to another international test, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Statistical techniques that "link" results from two different tests, though imperfect, provide a reasonable estimate of how state performance compares internationally.

 

I will start with the good news. On a handful of measures, North Carolina fares reasonably well. (See Facts and Stats below.) Our white students, as well as students with at least one college-educated parent, are in the top tier in reading and math performance. It is encouraging to see that some student populations in North Carolina are on par with peers from Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands. Unfortunately, these two categories of students still cannot compete with high achieving nations such as South Korea and Finland. Moreover, it is hard to get excited about proficiency rates that fall below 40 percent in reading and 50 percent in math.

 

Now, here is the really bad news. North Carolina’s general school population hovers around the international average in reading and math performance. Approximately two-thirds of our students do not meet proficiency standards in these subjects. This places North Carolina in the company of Poland and the United Kingdom and far behind the leaders of the pack. Even more troubling, few of our students go beyond the "proficient" level of performance and reach the "advanced" level. Only 8 percent of our students perform well enough to achieve this distinction. The same is true for nations such as the Czech Republic and Hungary.

 

Students from around the world have become successful even though they do not have access to a fraction of the resources available to North Carolina’s children. We cannot spend our way out of the middle of the pack. Rather, our education leaders and elected officials need to emulate top-performing international competitors and spend tax dollars in ways that are more productive.

 

Random Thought

 

On November 23, 2011, Walt Disney Pictures will release The Muppets, starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams.

 

On November 29, 2011, I will publish a newsletter that features an unusual level of despair.

 

Facts and Stats

 

Math and Reading Proficiency, 2011

 

North Carolina Reading (All students)

  • State Rank: 32 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 28.0
  • Significantly outperformed by 15 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and United Kingdom

 

North Carolina Reading (White students)

  • State Rank: 18 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 38.8
  • Significantly outperformed by 5 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, and Netherlands

 

North Carolina Reading (Students with at least one college-educated parent)

  • State Rank: 32 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 37.8
  • Significantly outperformed by 5 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, and Netherlands

 

North Carolina Math (All students)

  • State Rank: 24 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 34.5
  • Significantly outperformed by 21 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and United Kingdom

 

North Carolina Math (White students)

  • State Rank: 8 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 46.3
  • Significantly outperformed by 7 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Netherlands

 

North Carolina Math (Students with at least one college-educated parent)

  • State Rank: 17 of 51
  • Percent Proficient: 47.4
  • Significantly outperformed by 8 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of proficient students: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Netherlands

 

North Carolina Math (Advanced level)

  • State Rank: 12 of 51
  • Percent Advanced: 8.0
  • Significantly outperformed by 19 countries
  • Countries with similar percentages of advanced students: Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden

 

Mailbag

 

I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

 

Education Acronym of the Week

 

PISA — Program for International Student Assessment

 

Quote of the Week

 

 "At a time of persistent unemployment, especially among the less skilled, many wonder whether our schools are adequately preparing students for the 21st-century global economy. Despite high unemployment rates, firms are experiencing shortages of educated workers, outsourcing professional-level work to workers abroad, and competing for the limited number of employment visas set aside for highly skilled immigrants."

 

– Paul E. Peterson, Ludger Woessmann, Eric A. Hanushek, and Carlos X. Lastra-Anadon, "Globally Challenged: Are U. S. Students Ready to Compete? " Harvard University, Program on Education Policy and Governance & Education (PEPG) Report No. 11-03, hks.harvard.edu/pepg, August 2011.

 

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