Bail Me Out!

Gerald W. Bracey

Other Titles in:
Communication Skills | Decision Making Tools | School Management

May 2000 | 224 pages | Corwin

Bail me Out is a guide to the interpretation of test data pertaining to the performance of American public schools.

Introduction

Why You Need a Book Like This

PART ONE: PRINCIPLES OF DATA INTERPRETATION, OR, HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING STATISTICALLY SNOOKERED

Beware of Averages

Follow the Money

Beware of the Uncritical Acceptance of Convenient Conclusions

Watch for Selectivity in the Data

Show Me the Data!

Beware of Nostalgia

Beware of Causal Explanations from Correlational Data

Be Aware of Whether or Not the Statistics Used Are Numbers or Rates (Percentages)

Know Whether You're Dealing with Ranks or Scores

Make Sure That the Statistic Used Is the Right One

Ask How the Variable Is Defined

Ask How the Variable Is Defined, and Then Ask What the Criterion Measure Is

Differentiate Practical and Statistical Significance

Look for Trends, Not Snapshots

Beware of Trends

Ask What the Consequences Are Even if the Interpretation of the Data Is True

Beware of Changing Demographics

Try to 'See Through' Graphs

Beware of Big (Small) Numbers

Beware of Generalizations

PART TWO: ASPECTS OF ACHIEVEMENT

The Rise of Testing

Types of Tests

Other Indicators of Achievement

PART THREE: HANDLING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS

How Come American Students Fall Farther behind Their International Peers the Longer They Stay in School?

Why Are Test Scores Falling?

How Come Private Schools Do So Much Better Than Public Schools?

Why Don't We Have Vouchers So That the Money Could Follow the Child?

Why Don't We Use Charter Schools as Laboratories for Innovation for the Rest of the System?

Why Are We Throwing Money at the Schools?

Why Are SAT Scores Still Falling?

Why Don't Bright People Go into Teaching?

With All the Talk about Standards and Accountability, Why Aren't Teachers and Principals Held Accountable?

"An American treasure! Necessary knowledge for anyone who believes in public education."

Ron Brandt

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

"An indispensable resource for those interested in making sense of the conflicting claims of both the political right and left. His chapters on ‘seeing through graphs’ and ‘other indicators of achievements’ as well as his discussion of the Simpson paradox, are essential reading for both consumers and producers of educational research. Recommended for graduate students, researchers, professionals, and general readers."

F. Galloway

University of San Diego

Choice Magazine

"Bracey provides readable review of how basic statistics are used in measuring student success. {He has} an uncanny ability to discover misinterpretations of public school achievements {and} gives practical advice on how educators can be both responsive and pro-active."

Roland M. Smith

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Arkansas

"A skeptics joy! Bracey offers straightforward examples and hard-hitting prose that teach the intricacies of interpreting educational data."

David C. Berliner, Dean and Regents' Professor

College of Education, Arizona State University, Tempe

"In this methodologically insightful book, Bracey provides a statistical roadmap for interpreting the data pertaining to the achievement of US schools. It should serve as an indispensable resource for those interested in making sense of the conflicting claims of both the political right and left."

F. Galloway, University of San Diego

CHOICE, 2001

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Bail Me Out!
Handling Difficult Data and Tough Questions About Public Schools

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