** “Most of my teaching career was spent working with at-risk kids, the ones destined to fail. The scores of my students cannot be compared with the scores of the AP teacher’s students. My students scores should be compared with their previous test scores to see how far they have advanced.” ~ Douglas Miller, educator
** (In response to schools with as many as 34 valedictorians) “The question is: Where do you cross the line? If a school has those extremely high-end numbers (of valedictorians), then I would quickly assume that grading isn’t very rigorous at all at that school. But I’m not sure I could say what number that needs to drop to for things to not seem out of whack to me. Is five the limit? Three? Eight? I’m not sure. But my gut instinct as an admission director is that I’d start to wonder a bit even at four.” ~ Jim Rawlins, president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling & admissions director at Colorado State University
** “… Unfortunately, a teacher’s grade book is one of life’s greatest mysteries. Did Johnny do well on tests, but fail to turn in some homework assignments, thus dropping him to a B? Possibly worse, did he do poorly on his tests, but those deficiencies were masked by Johnny’s reliable turning in of homework or participation in class? Perhaps worse yet, did Johnny’s grade increase because he brought in a box of tissues or earned some other type of extra credit? I firmly believe the problems of the American education system are not the result of years of poor teaching practices. They are the result of poor grading practices.” ~ Ryan McLane, principal of Utica High School
** “Through an exhaustive and unprecedented examination of how these [teacher-training] schools operate, the review finds they have become ‘an industry of mediocrity, churning out first-year teachers with classroom management skills and content knowledge inadequate to thrive in classrooms with an ever-increasing diversity of ethnic and socioeconomic students.'” ~ Philip Elliott, AP (on the National Council of Teacher Quality review)
** “Many colleges are becoming less demanding as they become more expensive: They rake in money–much of it from government-subsidized tuition grants–by taking in many marginally qualified students who are motivated only to acquire a credential and who learn little.” ~ George Will, journalist
