I haven’t been able to find the 2008 ACT averages anywhere, so I’d like to see where you got your quote/story, and also where you got the idea that 0.3 points isn’t significant. According to the 2007 scores, 0.3 points separates the 15th ranked state (Pennsylvania, 22.0) and the 25th ranked state (Delaware, 21.7), so it seems to make a big difference, particularly if you’re obsessed with ranking educational performance to make a point. The national average last year was 21.2, so we’re not that far off; I don’t know what you’re whining about.

2007 scores, if you care to see them: http://www.act.org/news/data/07/states.html

In fact, as a reporter, I wrote pretty extensively about what to read into SAT and ACT scores….that it has to do with sample size and sample type (does a school encourage ALL its students to take the SAT, or just those likeliest to attend college, etc.?) and so on.

No, I didn’t write stories on whether some government office’s p.r. efforts — including the governor’s — were full of fluff, generally, as that’s more for the realm of editorial pages….opinion outlets, perhaps similar to this one. And, again, I’m agreeing with the thrust of your comment here — not all the “worst in the Western World,” “total waste” or whatever stuff, but your criticism of Jim Rex’s ACT commentary. I’m guessing your beef with my comment has to do with my supposing that the pro-school-choice crowd would make hay with any ‘incremental’ or ‘statistically insignificant’ decrease in scores.

Public Education is S.C. is making progress! It does have issues that need to be addressed so progress can continue and spread to all students in SC. Read that again. “ALL STUDENTS” Get it?

Your voucher scam will abandon those who need help the most.

We all know the challenges facing public education and our children include a variety of problems like poverty and latent racism (and Brazillions of related social issues that sic(k) willie ignores) as well as a funding system the punishes many rural kids.

The first thing S.C. needs to do is fix “minimally adequate.” What a terrible thing for S.C. Our education standard is “minimally adequate.” sic(k) one, where is your outrage?

BIN News – Flair and Balance!

We can’t speak for anyone else, but we have to make headlines over nonsense like this because the mainstream media (of which you used to be a member) is intent on perpetuating the more money myth.

Perhaps if you guys did your jobs, there’d be no need for us …

-FITSNews

Of course, if our state’s SAT scores went DOWN on tenth of a point or percentage or whatever, I reckon that Will and SCRG and all them would make huge headlines with it.

Budget cuts? What budget cuts? K-12 education was the only major statewide program that was NOT cut this year.

This is extraordinarily disappointing from Rex. If we wanted another politician to “play the game” from the left-wing text book — “if only we had….MORE MONEY….” — we could have elected, well, just about anybody in education in this state.