0  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

A nationally-renowned professor of Measurement at UCLA once told me that children's standardized test scores really only tell you one thing for sure: their parents' social class.

The higher the test scores, the more expensive the homes in the neighborhood.

It's just that simple.

That there is ALWAYS a direct correlation between a pricey neighborhood and high test scores in the local public schools.

Don't believe me? Go to your state's department of education website and look up the school districts in the most expensive neighborhoods in your area. Do it. I promise you that every school located in an upscale hood will have group median API of 800 or above (out of 1000).

Never heard of API? Academic Performance Index. Or as comedian Sandra Tsing Loh calls it: the Affluent Parent Index. http://www.sandratsingloh.com/index.php?pr=Scandalously_Informal#1

Otherwise known as the 1.2 million dollar GOOD SCHOOL (in California, at least).

So, if you are looking for a strong public school for your child, take the test scores with a grain of salt.

One last caveat: high test scores can sometimes be an indication that teachers are teaching to the test, but that -- as I now like to say -- is yet another can of worms for a later posting.