Craig Ford: Replacing ACT Aspire with the actual ACT is as dumb as it gets

  Last week, our state superintendent of education announced a decision that is so spectacularly stupid that you almost have to assume the intention is to hurt our schools.

  That decision is to replace the ACT preparation exam, called the ACT Aspire, with the actual ACT as a measure of school accountability.

  Think about that for a second. Replacing the preparation exam with the actual exam is like sending a minor league baseball player who has a low batting average up to the major league and expecting him to start knocking balls out of the park.

Andrew A. Yerbey: Diplomas of duplicity

  A few weeks ago, Tommy Bice announced his plans to step down as Alabama’s superintendent of education. Reflecting on his tenure, Bice singled out one accomplishment with especial pride: the nearly 90% graduation rate of public-school students in Alabama. This is not, however, an accomplishment that should be celebrated: it will go down as the most pernicious failure of the Bice superintendency. When the high-school diploma has been as devalued as it has, its benefits—economic and otherwise—become a false promise.