voodoo
A quote from NYTimes article entitled "Schools Move Toward Following Students’ Yearly Progress on Tests" 7/13/07:
Ms. Bolender’s union is fighting a decision by the Dallas school district to remove about 30 teachers from five middle and high schools this summer after not enough of their students passed the state tests, and too many failed to show adequate progress on growth models. Ms. Bolender said that many teachers question the reliability of the growth model data, calling it “voodoo math” because “you have to be a Ph.D. in statistics to even comprehend it.”
Anything that requires a PhD to understand must be voodoo (as opposed to "rigorous" or "carefully researched"), because that is what we study in PhD programs. There is no way we can make progress in the field of education research (my field) if people refuse to accept what is studied by those actually *qualified* to do the studies.
Ms. Bolender’s union is fighting a decision by the Dallas school district to remove about 30 teachers from five middle and high schools this summer after not enough of their students passed the state tests, and too many failed to show adequate progress on growth models. Ms. Bolender said that many teachers question the reliability of the growth model data, calling it “voodoo math” because “you have to be a Ph.D. in statistics to even comprehend it.”
Anything that requires a PhD to understand must be voodoo (as opposed to "rigorous" or "carefully researched"), because that is what we study in PhD programs. There is no way we can make progress in the field of education research (my field) if people refuse to accept what is studied by those actually *qualified* to do the studies.