Are we our data or our stories?

Back to a K-12 topic ...

Stumbled on this story in the Washington Post about testing and school grades.

N.C. teacher: Test score says the year was a dismal failure for my student — but it really was ‘a resounding success’
It's easy to just use test grades as a metric, but should progress count too? And should we consider other factors?

US Birth Rates, by the numbers

An interesting, data-based explanation for why the US birth rate has declined:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/key-reason-birth-rate-declining_us_5b0725cfe4b0568a88097feb?ncid=APPLENEWS00001

This is a heated topic, for sure, and one on which many people have an opinion. I think it's interesting because the article really shows birth rate as a systemic issue.