If EVERYONE is passing, or if EVERYONE is failing, it must have something to do with the school.
This school is looking better and better!
Hmm...not necessarily. People from some cultures put a very high value on school achievement, and do many things to ensure that their kids do well. For example, many parents in our area send their kids to Kumon or the Mathnasium or another tutoring service once or twice a week, year-round.
I know someone who grew up in a high-score district not far from where we live. Eight years ago, he told us that he was convinced that the test scores are due to parents more than the schools.
Now that we've been around the education block a bit, I tend to agree. There's a Kumon next to our local supermarket, and it's crushed full when it's open. We checked it out once, and you can't move to the next level in something until you get 100% on a test in less than a certain amount of time. Don't know if all Kumons have this policy, but this kind of stuff really drives high test scores.
And of course, there's also the question of the relative merits of high scores on high-stakes tests and their ability to measure education.
Just food for thought...
Val
