Beating the Odds

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) concluded in its recent report that very few schools "beat the odds" on the 10th-grade WASL last spring, but several performed "below expectations. Last year, the Legislature tasked WSIPP with conducting several WASL-related studies. This latest report reflects their efforts to identify schools that "beat the odds," meaning schools whose students did better on the WASL than expected, given their demographics. Only 8 out of 309 schools included in the analysis beat the odds in reading and writing; 13 out of 303 schools did it in math.

So what does this all mean? Well, since the actual and predicted met standard rates were higher for schools in reading and writing, it seems to confirm what we already know: there is a problem with math. But the main finding, as researchers noted, was the disappointing realization that very few schools beat the odds given their students' demographics.

Friedman on Skills

Digging through the inbox this morning and found a list of skill sets New York Times writer Thomas Friedman referenced at this year's NASSP Convention in Las Vegas. Friedman is, of course, the author of the popular book, "The World is Flat." Might make good fodder for remarks at graduations later this spring...

9 Skill Sets for Jobs that Can’t be Outsourced

1. Be great collaborators

2. Be great synthesizers

3. Be great leveragers

4. Be great explainers

5. Be great adaptors

6. Do anything green (environmental)

7. Be great calculators

8. Be great localizers

9. Be passionate personalizers