A Think Twice Review of:

The 2010 State School Report Card: A state-by-state analysis of learning, efficiency, and standards

Think Twice - Dec 14, 2010

Publisher/Think Tank - The Heartland Institute

Author(s) -

This report ranks states on four indices of school performance: learning, education expenditure, quality of state standards, and an overall achievement grade based on the average of the first three indices. The authors use the data to advocate for Parent Trigger legislation and school choice policies.

Reviewer(s) - Edward Fierros and Bridget Ann Rooney, Villanova University

Fierros and Rooney find that the report and its grades are very poorly grounded. They note that the report cites very limited, partisan research, provides no rationale to support its methods and fails to control for underlying variations from state to state in demographics and other characteristics. They conclude that the report is of no use in guiding policy or practice.