Advancing
the Goal of Ending Education as We Know
It
As part of Asora's effort to justify it
raison d'etre we have generated a number of reports over
the past five years that address relevant issues. In one
group we have reports that are specifically focused on the
development of Asora's Stellar Schools, while in the other
group are reports more analytical in nature that explore
public policy issues of relevance and associated reform
strategies. On this page we describe the reports in this
latter category. For reports that are focused on the
development of Stellar Schools, including the business
plan, please go to Reports on
Development.
Asora®
Reports on Public Policy and
Reform
In approximate reverse chronological
order, we here list the reports that can be downloaded.
By clicking
here, you will
be taken to the download page.
AssessmentExaggerations.docx
is a report that discusses to
what extent exaggerated achievement test proficiencies are
deliberately deceptive and when that kind of practice is
more appropriately labeled corrupt. It's based on data from
25 states.
NECAP-ACT-Reform.doc
is a report that presents a
proposal to replace the New England Common Assessment
Program achievement testing with ACT tests- to give the
testing a strong technical and ethical
basis.
ELQ-Mappings.docx is a
report that presents the derivation of two reliable mapping
formulas that provide NAEP estimates for local schools and
in the process effectively removes the "inflation" from
state reported proficiency percentages on achievement
tests.
ELQ-Derivation.xlsx
is the spreadsheet extension
of ELQ-Mappings.docx. It provides the derivations and many
applications to state reported data.
AssessmentKeyToReform.docx
contains our short essay,
"Honest Testing And Diplomas Will Drive Reform." Among its
proposals, it challenges private organizations to perform
the task of certifying high school graduates.
RIDE-OpEd.docx
contains in draft form an op
ed piece we wrote for Rhode Island newspapers. It discusses
the responsibility for and the consequences of the Rhode
Island Department of Education's inflation policy. It
addresses what stakeholders might do to remedy the
situation.
Review-Moe.docx
is the review, "Did They Read
My Mind," that we wrote on the Amazon.Com website for the
Terry Moe & John Chubb book, "Liberating Learning."
Review-Christensen.docx
is the review, "Good wheat.
Too much chaff," that we wrote on the Amazon.Com website
for Clayton Christensen et al book, "Disrupting Class."
DoubleDeceptionDozen.doc
contains an article that
discusses all twelve states in which the double deception
is practiced. The twelve states, ordered worst to least in
false gain, are: NY, WY, NM, RI, AR, NH, VA, IL, ND, LA, ME
& AL.
NECAP-sequel.doc contains an article that discusses the
deception seen in the three NECAP states of New Hampshire,
Rhode Island and Vermont. It puts forward a hypothesis
explaining how the artificial false gains were generated.
NECAP-op-ed.doc
contains the op-ed that
appeared in the Providence Journal on February 18, 2009. It
discusses problems with the 8th grade reading tests and
points towards solutions.
NECAPProfNumsFullReport_01.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in the three New England states: New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The results are
obtained by removing the inflation from the numbers
reported by the states NECAP assessments.
NCAP-NAEP-Estimates.xls
contains the detailed results
discussed in NECAPProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
NECAPProfNumsShortReport_01.doc
is a condensed version of the
longer (see above) NECAPProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
NMProfNumsFullReport_01.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in New Mexico. The results are
obtained by removing the inflation from the numbers
reported by the state.
NM-NAEP-Estimates.xls
contains the detailed results
discussed in NMProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
NMProfNumsShortReport_01.doc
is a condensed version of the
longer (see above) NMProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
OKProfNumsFullReport_01.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in Oklahoma. The results are
obtained by removing the inflation from the numbers
reported by the state.
OK-NAEP-Estimates.xls
contains the detailed results
discussed in OKProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
OKProfNumsShortDraft_02.doc
is a condensed version of the
longer (see above) OKProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
PAProfNumsFullReport_01.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in Pennsylvania. The results were
obtained by removing the inflation from the numbers
reported by the state.
PA-NAEP-Estimates.xls
contains the detailed results
discussed in PAProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
PAProfNumsShortDraft_01.doc
is a condensed version of the
longer (see above) PAProfNumsFullReport_01.doc.
NJProfNumsLongDraft_04.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in Hudson County in New Jersey. The
results are qualitatively similar to those just mentioned
in Oklahoma.
VenturaProfNums.doc
is a report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school in Ventura County in California. The
results are qualitatively similar to those just mentioned
in Hudson County, New Jersey.
RIProfs2005TechReport.doc
is a recent
(but somewhat out of date) detailed report that presents
realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for students
in every public school and district in Rhode Island. As in
the preceding report, social promotion is endemic- even in
the least bad schools. We are currently drafting an updated
report based on 2007 testing.
RIProfs2005BasicReport.doc is an abreviated version
of the preceding entry RIProfNumsTechReport.doc.
RI_Regents_01.doc
is a one-page
presentation to the Rhode Island Board of Regents about
reforming its K-12 schools.
GrtrPvdProfNums.doc is
an older report that presents realistic NAEP scale
proficiency percentages for students in public schools in
Rhode Island and a nearby Massachusetts county. Except for
high schools, the results are reported for districts only.
PvdProfNums.doc
is an older report that
presents realistic NAEP scale proficiency percentages for
students in every public school in the city of Providence,
Rhode Island. It is similar to the preceding report but is
more detailed. It shows how student proficiencies can go as
low as 2% of students being at or above grade level.
EdReform-External-2007.doc
is a report that describes
activities that stakeholders can consider that would
indirectly and externally put pressure on schools to
improve.
EdReform-Internal-2007.doc
is a report that describes
policy changes that could revolutionize publicly supported
education.
OnStateProfNums.doc
is a report that discusses
how the states of California, Massachusetts, and Rhode
Island inflate proficiency percentages on achievement
tests, how to remove that "inflation," and then shows how
poorly American students are doing.
RealDropOuts_01.doc
is a short report on real
dropout rates in public education. Think 80%.
KTChildAbuse.doc
is an essay discussing
whether public and private K-12 education systems are
sometimes, perhaps unwittingly, abusive of American
children.
ProfitableEducation.doc,
is an early report that outlined in some detail the
reasoning behind Stellar Schools.
AppendiciesProfblEd.doc
contains the appendices of
the just mentioned Profitable Education.doc wherein more
detailed analyses are presented.
Please contact us for further information about Asora
Education Enterprises many ongoing efforts, including
its plans to develop Stellar Schools.