Lessons From the Wall Chart
Item
Title
Lessons From the Wall Chart
Abstract/Description
In 1984 the wall chart of State Education Statistics broke the historic silence on reporting state-by-state comparisons of student performance. Prior to its release, chief state school officers and the education establishment had been protected from disclosure of poor performance by the states in education. The wall chart, by laying out the facts in straightforward detail, exposed our national shortcomings in education and focused attention on the states where much of education policymaking takes place. This article reports on the history of the wall chart, addresses the criticisms that followed its release, and assesses its impact. It goes on to propose recommendations for improving the usefulness of state-by-state rankings. The insights it offers on designing state education comparisons may be particularly helpful as the nation and states undertake the expansion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress to report on student performance at the state level.
Author/creator
Date
In publication
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
1-12
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Published Text
Scholarship genre
Historical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISSN
0162-3737
Citation
Ginsburg, A. L., Noell, J., & Plisko, V. W. (1988). Lessons From the Wall Chart. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 10(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737010001001
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