He properly insists this is a better way to judge schools and teachers.

The low number of parents seeking transfers reflects the different values parents use in judging schools.

But instead of the current league tables, parents could judge schools either on their A-level results, or on the destinations of former pupils.

Yet parents and teachers are encouraged to judge their children and schools the way investors watch the Dow industrials.

Results on the national test are not used to judge schools under No Child Left Behind.

But this "School Quality Review Initiative" faded as testing became the main way to judge schools.

It also offers some sound advice on judging schools, from class sizes to test scores.

He has made testing at all levels the centerpiece of state policy, using scores to judge districts, schools and students.

He said it was a simplistic way to judge schools and he compared it to Zagat's restaurant guides.

Critics say we're going to judge schools by whether they can teach kids to recognize correct answers, not generate them themselves.