NATIONAL POST Texas: miracle or mirage?

The Lone Star State is held up as a model of how mandatory standardized testing can improve academic achievement. But critics say if you dig a little behind the scores, all is not what it seems.

Every year or two the Texas tests are revised, always for the lastest political purpose. This is usually done by chaning the passing grade required on tests but can be throwing out a test and replacing it with another. Most teachers do not have time to do anything but teach to the test for their slowest stundents. They are not evaluated on anything but how many of their students pass. You might also miss Bush bragging about the next statistic:

The rising high school dropout rate in Texas is also skewing results. An independent state-wide study released last month revealed that two of every five high school students who were freshmen four years ago dropped out and failed to graduate as scheduled last spring, a dropout rate of 39%.