Reprint those bumper stickers!

I refer to the Mass Teachers Association bumper stickers that say "Massachusetts Students are Number 1 THREE YEARS IN A ROW!"
Well, we're up to four:

According to the 2011 NAEP results, Massachusetts students ranked first alone among states in 4th grade reading and in 8th grade mathematics, and tied for first in 4th grade math and 8th grade reading. Massachusetts 4th graders scored higher in reading since the last test in 2009, and scores held steady for 4th graders in mathematics and for 8th graders in reading and mathematics.  
...Overall, Massachusetts 4th graders had an average scaled score of 237 in reading, higher than in 2009 (234) and above the national average of 220. In mathematics, 4th graders scored 253, holding steady since 2009 (252) and higher than the national average of 240. At grade 8, Massachusetts students scored 275 in reading, holding steady since 2009 (274) but higher than the national average of 264. In mathematics, 8th graders scored 299, the same as in 2009 and higher than the national average of 283.

(Sorry, this is all from the press release of the Department of Ed, which I got in an email. No link)
(New York, by contrast, has had a second year of going backwards.)
Hechinger has a good point on poverty.
The Quick and the Ed is worth reading, but misses that the concerns around standardized testing wouldn't be measured by an, ah, standardized test.
Valarie Strauss adds needed perspective.