Jill Tucker and Kristina Rizga on Making the grade" at Mission High and in General

Jill Tucker deserves a big thank  you, as does Kristina Rizga, for making a statement on the unreliability of test scores in judging schools.   (Making the grade," Jill tucker's review of Kristina Rizga's Mission High, Sunday Datebook, August 2-8, 2015)

Before my retirement last year, I taught and trained teachers on four continents and was at first surprised to see teachers cheating, prompting students during the administration of tests.  Then I realized that they were being judged not by their performance but by their students' test scores.  I was so glad that we didn't do that here.

In her review of Kristina Rizga's Mission High, Jill Tucker states correctly that test scores are more about demographics than teachers or quality of instruction.  She tells parents they should visit schools to evaluate the instruction rather than depending on test scores, no one ever believes her.

I believe her, and I'm glad that Kristina Rizga did what Tucker advises--right at Mission High and not for a day but for four years!!

I also believe that Mission High, like Reign of Error and Teacher Wars, is a book everyone who cares about education should read.