Funny numbers

When it comes to education statistics, all the numbers don't always add up.
Much has already been said and written about the achievement gap in American schools. To an alarming degree, non-white students are not achieving at the same levels as their white peers. There are a number of reasons, some explored and some unexplored, but most relate to income level.
But here is where the numbers can get confusing.
Last week, The Free Press re-printed a story from the Christian Science Monitor that analyzed a report from the Center on Education Policy on the achievement gap in all 50 states. Minnesota did not compare favorably because its gap is not closing as fast as some other states.
But fast forward to Wednesday when the National Center for Education Statistics released the results from a nationwide math assessment for 4th- and 8th-graders. In it, Minnesota's students competed with those of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont as the country's best performers.
But even further, the scores of Minnesota's non-white students - although still not as high their white peers - were just about the same as the national averages.
And while it's difficult to draw conclusions from any single report or batch of test data, it seems that while Minnesota continues to have a clear achievement gap - most students are still receiving a competitive education.