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Home Computers Equal Lower Test Scores
An anonymous reader writes "Politicians and education activists have long sought to eliminate the 'digital divide' by guaranteeing universal access to home computers, and in some cases to high-speed Internet service. But a Duke University study finds these efforts would actually widen the achievement gap in math and reading scores. Students in grades five through eight, particularly those from disadvantaged families, tend to post lower scores once these technologies arrive in their homes."
The distortion of standardized test scores as they are applied for optimization purposes is just another example of Campbell's law. When it becomes important to optimize the score, the score gets optimized even at the expense of what it was supposed to measure. As you say, the score may be sensible enough on its own, but optimization twists it.