Everyone remember that Harvard study which showed that vouchers – among black children, compared to a control group – lead to improved test scores? It was talked about quite a bit during the 2000 election.<\/p>\n
It turns out, according to an article in today’s Times<\/em><\/a>, the results don’t hold up. Fattypatties<\/a> discusses the matter extensively (permalink<\/a> is currently bloggered, so look for the April 7th entry entitled “Statistics and the Mystique of Science”). From the Times<\/em> article:<\/p>\n A Princeton economist, Alan B. Krueger, took the offer, and after two years recently concluded that Professor Peterson had it all wrong — that not even the black students using vouchers had made any test gains. And Mr. Myers, Professor Peterson’s former research partner, agrees, calling Professor Krueger’s work “a fine interpretation of the results.”<\/p>\n What makes this a cautionary tale for political leaders seeking to draft public policy from supposedly scientific research is the mundane nature of the apparent miscalculations. Professor Krueger concluded that the original study had failed to count 292 black students whose test scores should have been included. And once they are added — making the sample larger and statistically more reliable — vouchers appear to have made no difference for any group.[…]<\/p>\n It is scary how many prominent thinkers in this nation of 290 million were ready to make new policy from a single study that appears to have gone from meaningful to meaningless based on whether 292 children’s test scores are discounted or included. “It’s not a study I’d want to use to make public policy,” Mr. Myers said. “I see this and go `whoa.’ “<\/p>\n Professor Krueger of Princeton (who also writes a monthly business column in The Times<\/em>) said, “This appeared to be high-quality work, but it teaches you not to believe anything until the data are made available.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/center><\/p>\n Fattypatties<\/a> is using this article as a jump-off for a series on science and fat issues. I’m looking forward to that.<\/p>\n .<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everyone remember that Harvard study which showed that vouchers – among black children, compared to a control group – lead to improved test scores? It was talked about quite a bit during the 2000 election. It turns out, according to … Continue reading