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<DIV>Marie,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Re- fudging-"Honesty is the best policy." </DIV>
<DIV>Standards- the state and pertinent state standards, or lack there -of, should be indicated in the submitted data.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Nationwide standards- should be the goal :>)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: "Marie Cora" <marie.cora@hotspurpartners.com> <BR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">That is the question…..<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hello all!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not too long ago, I received an email question regarding submitting accurate data to the states and the Feds. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It appeared that the person was being pressured to make up data (assessment scores) so that the outcomes of the program looked better.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I bet this story is not new to you – either because you have heard about it, or perhaps because it has happened to you.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So I have some questions now:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If programs fudge their data, won’t that come back to haunt us all?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Won’t that skew standards and either force programs to under-perform or not allow them to reach their performance levels because they are too steep?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Why would you want to fudge your data?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At some point, most-likely the fudge will be revealed don’t you think?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We don’t have nationwide standards – so if programs within states are reporting data in any which way, we won’t be able to compare ourselves across states, will we?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Since states have all different standards (and some don’t have any), states can report in ways in which it makes them appear to be out-doing other states, when perhaps they are not at all?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I’m probably <SPAN class=SpellE>mushing</SPAN> 2 different and important things together here:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>the accurate data part, and the standards part (“on what do we base our data”) – but this is how it’s playing out in my mind.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not only do we sometimes struggle with providing accurate data (for a variety of reasons:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN class=GramE>it’s</SPAN> complex, it’s messy, we feel pressure, sometimes things are unclear, etc.), but we do not have institutionalized standards across all states for all to be working in parallel fashion.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What are your thoughts on this?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=SpellE><SPAN class=GramE><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">marie</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <SPAN class=SpellE>cora</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Assessment </SPAN></FONT><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:PersonName><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Di</SPAN></FONT></st1:PersonName><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">scussion List Moderator<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>