Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Does anyone truly think that NCLB statistics mean anything much? In my mind, that is nearly as ludicrous as evaluating how many third graders know how to tie their shoes and take a city bus somewhere and calling that a measure of effective parenting. It's crazy, and everyone knows that it's crazy, but we can't seem to stop.

For me, NCLB statistics are a good way of showing the extremes that people go to when a statistic about, say, mathematics knowledge among nine-year-olds, becomes far more important than the mathematics knowledge itself!

Have you ever read The Trouble with Physics? The first ~3/4 of the book is about problems in theoretical physics. The second part is about what you said: "It's crazy, and everyone knows that it's crazy, but we can't seem to stop."

Val