More on incentives

I am seeing an increasing number of articles pointing out the growing gap between results of state tests and those on the federal NAEP tests. A number of states report a much higher percentage of students proficient in math and reading than the federal test finds for students in that state.

The explanation, of course, is that the federal No Child Left Behind requires that all children in schools be proficient in reading and math within a few years. But in a bow to states-rights conservatives, it left the testing and the definition of proficiency to the states. The predominant incentive on the states is to set the standards low so that their schools will appear to be turning out proficient students.

One answer would be national tests, similar to those in most other countries. Educationally, this seems like the best solution. Mathematics, for instance, does not change when a graduate crosses the state line. Even though the advocates of national testing seem to be increasing, I doubt that the political will exists for this. Much of the left will oppose it because they hate testing, while many on the right will oppose national testing because it implies national standards.

A possible compromise might be to leave states to determine their own tests but use NAEP results to recalibrate the proficiency levels. For example if 40% of the students in a state were proficient by NAEP standards, the state score corresponding to the 40th percentile would be the cut-off for proficiency.

High school diploma mill

Every month or so, I receive an e-mail that invites me to get my bachelor's, master's, or PhD degree from a "prestigious unaccredited university" with no required classes or exam. In other words from a diploma mill. This morning's New York Times has an article on a high school diploma mill in Florida.

It appears that the major market for this high school consists of athletes whose grade point averages fall below the 2.75 needed for an athletic scholarship and are in danger of failing Florida's required high school graduation exam. In its wisdom, the Florida legislature exempted private schools from the requirement that all students need to pass the exam.

Diploma mills prosper when the symbols of education become more important than its substance. So universities, anxious to rack up a winning season, look the other way when their athletes are unprepared for college work.

Likewise, markets can be very powerful, for both good and ill, as they respond to incentives. When the incentives are to find loopholes, some entrepreneur will find them.