Be wary of those claiming NAEP scores show certain education policies work or don't, and be wary of comparisons of 4th grade scores between states that do and don't have 3rd grade retention plans (such as Florida and Kansas). #ksleg #ksed https://twitter.com/palan57/status/1190658016963682305

"NAEP is extraordinarily clear that folks should not try to suggest a causal relationship between scores and anything else. Everyone ignores that advice, but NAEP clearly acknowledges that there are too many factors at play here to focus on any single one...

"And some policies may improve scores without actually helping students; Mississippi in 2015 joined the states that held back students who could not pass a third grade reading test, meaning those low-scoring students would not be in fourth grade to take the NAEP test..

It would be like holding back all the shorter 3rd graders & then announcing that the average height of 4th graders has increased. In all discussions, it’s useful to remember that the increases or decreases being discussed are small– a difference of just a few points up or down."