Test scores were difficult to obtain and rarely discussed in public. But now measures of student achievement are splashed across the front page of major newspapers, widely available on the Internet, and the subject of intense scrutiny and furious spin.
Politicians closely watch test scores.
From the race to the White House to the thousands of contests for local school boards, candidates stretch and bend scores to make them look as good or as bad as possible. Teachers unions and other organizations cite data to defend public schools and assure the public that all is well or at least not as bad as everyone thinks. On the other side, critics of public schools publish voluminous studies documenting a steady decline in student performance. The Brown Center Report will appear annually, this being the first edition. Although varying in content from year to year, the report will be presented in the same three sections.