I took some data on proficiency tests of 8th graders in 2003 on the National Assessment of Education Progress test, which this conservative blogger posted
http://www.isteve.com/Web_Exclusives_Archive-May2004.htm#38115.6465670139 and he references this site as the source http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ The test data is the fraction of 8th graders in 2003 who passed the proficiency test in math and reading, broken down by state. I combined that data with the margin of Bush's victory over Kerry in 2004, and over Gore in 2000, broken down by state. Then I made a scatter plot. I didn't calculate a correlation factor, but there does seem to be at least a weak negative correlation of Bush margin of victory with higher proficiency fraction (not as strong as the fabricated data originally referenced in this thread, obviously). http://erikreuter.net/pub/vote.png Of course, the usual caveat applies with statistical correlation data like this: correlation does not imply causality. There could be any number of causes involved. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
