How education data gets spun:

How education data gets spun

Posted by Valerie Strauss on December 2, 2012 at 1:15 pm

As Mark Twain noted “Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.” In this piece we learn how two different narratives have been spun from statistics on high school graduation rates and charter schools. It was written by Bob Sikes, author of the Scathing Purple Musings blog. A former New York Mets assistant athletic director — including for the fabled 1986 World Series champions — he now teaches high school in Florida.

By Bob Sikes

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Florida Department of Education would quickly respond to a U.S. Department of Education report which found Florida graduation rates to be, well, abysmal.  It took four days. Lets compare the two reports.

On Monday, Gradebook’s Jeff Solocheck wrote this of the federal report:

The new federal comparison, from 2010-11, doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Florida. For all students, Florida’s graduation rate was 71 percent, lower than all but five states