Honest Education Alliance Honest testing. Honest schools.

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Honest Education Alliance
alex@honesteducationalliance.com

Latest release (summary)

Physician Who Exposed the “Lake Wobegon Effect” Thirty-Seven Years Ago Says School Testing Fraud Continues

Dr. John Jacob Cannell, MD, is releasing a white paper documenting that structural inflation of state test scores continues, and calling for two national reforms: expand NAEP to every student in grades 4, 8, and 12, and establish an independent national testing agency.

White paper (HTML) · White paper (PDF)

Historic coverage of the original findings

  • Washington Post — “Above Average Has Become Testing Norm” (February 8, 1988)
  • New York Times — “Standardized Test Scores: Voodoo Statistics” (February 17, 1988)
  • Wall Street Journal — “Classroom Scandal” (November 2, 1988)
  • 60 Minutes (CBS) — “Teacher is a Cheater” (March 25, 1990)
  • U.S. Department of Education replication study; congressional attention

Boilerplate

Every parent deserves to know what their child knows and when they know it.

The Honest Education Alliance is an advocacy organization founded in 2025 by Dr. John Jacob Cannell, MD. Building on the original Lake Wobegon research of Friends for Education (1987), the Alliance informs the public and promotes policy reforms for secure, independent educational testing in the United States.

Source links & further reading