State math exam scores have risen - but it's because tests have gotten easier

nydailynews.com Sunday, June 7th 2009, 4:00 AM
It's the state exam version of grade inflation.

Soaring scores on the state math test don't necessarily add up to better schools or smarter kids.

That's because it has gotten easier to teach to the test as the questions have gotten easier to predict, a Daily News analysis revealed.

And, the tests may also be easier.

"It's the lesson of the financial crisis, and it's the lesson here - you can't just trust the numbers, you have to look at what the numbers mean," said Columbia University sociology doctorate student Jennifer Jennings. Read more...