The N & O unknowingly "plays its readers for fools about those Wake County test scores"

Paul Somerby at The Daily Howler calls attention to the incompetence and bias of two MSM newspapers: The New York Times and Raleigh's News & Observer, a McClatchy paper.

Somerby titled his post: ILLITERATES EVERYWHERE! The New York Times plays its readers for fools about those Wake County test scores

Is Wake County, N. C. (Greater Raleigh) producing the latest educational miracle? The New York Times’ Alan Finder seems to want you thinking just that. Here’s the heart of his Sunday front-page feel-gooder—the latest laughable Times report about those “schools that work:”

FINDER (9/25/05): Over the last decade, black and Hispanic students here in Wake County have made such dramatic strides in standardized reading and math tests that it has caught the attention of education experts around the country.

The main reason for the students' dramatic improvement, say officials and parents in the county, which includes Raleigh and its sprawling suburbs, is that the district has made a concerted effort to integrate the schools economically...

In Wake County, only 40 percent of black students in grades three through eight scored at grade level on state tests a decade ago. Last spring, 80 percent did. Hispanic students have made similar strides. Overall, 91 percent of students in those grades scored at grade level in the spring, up from 79 percent 10 years ago.

Wow! Times readers felt a familiar glow; 80 percent of Wake County black kids scored at grade level on last spring’s tests! But here’s what Finder didn’t tell you—across the state of North Carolina, 77 percent of all black kids scored at grade level on those same tests!(bold added by JinC)

That’s right; the Times devoted this front-page story to a three-point difference in passing rates—a three-point difference in passing rates on tests almost everyone passes!
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Have Wake’s black passing rates doubled in the past decade? Almost—but then, the same thing has happened all over the state!
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We’ve told you this, again and again: Your “press corps” loves those schools-that-work stories, and they’ll do almost anything to throw such tales at you.

How well are Wake County’s schools really doing? We don’t have the slightest idea. But duh! To all appearances, North Carolina has easy state tests—tests which almost everyone passes. Finder doesn’t tell you that.

There's a lot more to The Times portion of Somerby's post,including a great deal about standardized education test results in North Carolina.

In the second part of Somerby's "play its readers for fools" post, he discovers The N&O nodding approvingly and passing on to N&O readers what The Times is saying.

Someby introduces The N&O portion of his post with: ILLITERACY SPREADS

You’d think they’d know better in Raleigh itself. But yesterday, the News-Observer ran a short piece on Finder’s report. Here’s what locals were handed:

THE NEWS-OBSERVER (9/25/05): Wake County Schools' success at achieving strong academic scores while integrating students economically is the subject of a high-profile article in today's New York Times.
The Times reports that Wake school district has become a national model...

Since 2000, the district has assigned students based on family income, with a goal of limiting each school to having no more than 40 percent of its students from low-income families. The district took that course after federal court decisions began to dismantle race-based desegregation plans.

School officials and parents say the economic integration plan is the key factor in the district's rapidly improving test scores among black and Hispanic students, The Times reported.

The story cites test scores showing that 80 percent of black students in grades three through eight scored at grade level last spring, up from 40 percent a decade ago...

You’d think this local paper would know the salient fact—that these scores have gone up all over the state.

But the paper repeated the claim, without challenge—the scores have gone up due to Raleigh’s economic integration program. The News-Observer also repeated that “40 percent a decade ago” claim.

Can you blame Somerby for expecting The N&O to understand education test scores for its own county and state?

Of course not.

On the other hand, if you're a regular N&O reader, you're not surprised The N&O went along with The Times story, are you?

Somerby says The Times knowingly "plays it readers for fools" but I don't believe The N&O was in any way trying to do the same thing in this instance.

I think The N&O's mistake is most likely explained by a combination of typical MSM thinking - "If it's in The Times, it must be right." - and N&O staffers just not knowing much about standardized education test results and how to use them.

What do you think?