Details about this story

• Source: Kansas City Star
• Date: January 21, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Melodee Hall Blobaum , Mike Sherry
• Topics: Education
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: In a computer analysis of testing data from Kansas and Missouri, The Kansas City Star found thousands of cases throughout the two-state area in which groups of students earned a stamp of approval last year through No Child Left Behind, even though their scores fell short of state requirements. The groups were aided by a statistical calculation designed to compensate for potential error and by a scoring allowance that takes into account student improvement, both of which provide some wiggle room to schools and districts with lagging test scores. These techniques are allowed under the law, but that has not stopped critics from labeling them as examples of what has been described as a "race to the bottom" touched off by No Child Left Behind - where standards are lowered to avoid the bite of the legislation.