In a nutshell: The 1% increase in NAEP scores Chicago made under Duncan is indeed near zero, just as I said, and is statistically indistinguishable from the miniscule increases made in all other large cities around the country. So Duncan's value-added above other urban superintendents was precisely zero.

Given this, do you not agree that Duncan has been padding his resume — and that the media have been his credulous accomplices — by relying on the highly dubious gains on the "realigned" ISAT?

What are the most important stastics in terms of helping students have successful high school careers and successful lives? I'd argue that 8th grade reading is the real gateway stat. Chicago's 8th grade reading scores increased from 249 to 250 over those five years. Worse, the scores of the bottom quartile dropped from 231 to 228.

We gotta keep our eyes on the real prize.

Which leads to Duncan's latest distraction, in the toughest schools allowing cell phones is suicidal. How can we ban guns from schools and not ban the technology that makes guns so much more dangerous?

This is not just a distraction. This is a reminder of a fundamental flaw of NCLB-type accountability. We looked at the poorest NEIGHBORHOOD schools through the prism of less challenging schools. NCLB II, in addition to a completely different accountability system, needs to focus on poor students and poor schools in their own right not through theories that come out of different types of schools.