One of the main issues I take with this article is it is relying on standardized test data (NAEP, ACT, etc) to rank the effectiveness of Iowa's education system (comparitively with other states in the US and with other countries in the world). There are many factors which influence the outcomes of these scores - on an individual level, text anxiety, etc and on a global level, how scores are recorded. It's difficult to be able to campare and say that Iowa isn't doing as well we Iowa students' scores dependent upon the way the test is issued, how the scores are reported and human error. This is especially true of the camparisons the article makes to international schools. Iowa's children, who are exposed to the core curriculum, can't possibly be expected to do as well as children in other countries who are being exposed to many different important life skills as part of their school curriculum.
While I think the overal goal of the article is sound - to make Iowa an education powerhouse again - the evidence provided to support it is problematic. There has to be more factors considered than testing.
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