From Newsgroup: talk.politics.misc

Officials in Boston are celebrating the highest graduation rates in
their history after significantly lowering standards for students and
hiring "equitable grading policy" consultants, according to a bombshell analysis.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) announced earlier in March that the
graduation rate at Boston Public Schools had reached a new record high
of 81.3%. The previous high had been 81%.

"I say every day around the city that our top priority is making Boston
a home for everyone, and that has everything to do with our young
people, our schools, school communities, and opportunities for families
in Boston," Wu said at a press conference. "That is the story behind
these numbers."

But another story behind these numbers says that the figure just
represents grade inflation and that actual student achievement results
have not improved at all.

An analysis from City Journal of the Manhattan Institute found that
other metrics showed no improvement despite the allegedly inflated
graduation rates.

BPS students did not score any better on the math and reading portions
of the SAT, according to the analysis. Math scores for lower income
students declined by 5%, even as their graduation rates improved.

Reading and math scores for English language learners fell by 9% and
13%, respectively, as their graduation rates improved by an astounding
21%, the analysis claimed.

And only about 40% of BPS 10th-graders meet expectations for reading and
math in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing, both
of which are lower than those from 2019, it said.

While Wu claimed they had not lowered student expectations or moved
goalposts to artificially jack up graduation rates, the City Journal
report claimed they had done just that.

One policy had teachers assign "incomplete marks" rather than give
students failing grades, and the district spent $120,000 on education consultants who advocated for "equitable grading policies."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/boston-schools-grade-inflation-equity
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ADH
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