The 100% Solution... Not!

I saw a CNN story today about a principal who achieved excellent results with his inner city students. Soledad O'Brien asked him how many of his graduates went on to college and he said 100%. Not to take anything away from his particular success story, whenever I hear a high statistic like that I want to know the hidden statistic about those who were disgarded to achieve this statistic. If the goal is 100% then risks will not be taken and perhaps fewer students are served. I wish reporters would dig deeper. Watch out for the 100% statistic (or any statistic used to make someone look good or bad). Years ago I saw a news story rating hospitals based on a simple death statistic. The reporter failed to dig deeper into the meaning of the numbers, most likely provided by someone who felt advantaged by the data. Nothing was said about hospitals who looked "good" because they treated younger and healthier inpatients on average, due to demographics or questionable practices. Rural hospitals with much older inpatient populations naturally looked worse. Another example of this has been professional schools that claim 100% of their graduates pass some licensing exam on the first try. What does this mean? Do the faculty work tirelessly to make every student a success or do they discourage at-risk students from getting in or getting to the end. It may be a little of both, but the 100% statistic is as much a red flag as it is a testimonial.