Here is Jeb Bush’s old trick to inflate 4th grade NAEP scores. The trick is 3rdgrade retention, which ensures that the lowest scoring kidss never take the 4th grade NAEP test . Thus, DeSantis put out a flashy press release celebrating 4th grade NAEP scores; But, he neglects to mention the collapse of 8th grade NAEP scores. Somehow the kids who were retained in 3rd grade managed to skip 4th grade and rejoin their classmates by 8th grade. NAEP stopped testing seniors a decade ago. Seniors know that NAEP doesn’t count and they don’t do their best. Some don’t even try. Their answer sheets had doodles, or some just picked the (A) answer to every question or some were blank. But the stark drop from fourth grade to eighth grade says something’s fishy in Florida.
At dianeravitch.net
