More on the violence/testing connection

Here's Tribune writer Deborah Shelton's take on the NYU study of neighborhood violence and its potential effect on student test scores. 

Neighborhood homicides can have a detrimental effect on Chicago schoolchildren's academic performance, whether they witness the violence or not, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using Chicago crime reports and the reading and vocabulary assessments of a sample of Chicago children, sociologist Patrick Sharkey of New York University found African-American children scored substantially lower on reading and vocabulary tests within a week of a homicide in their neighborhood.

The story has gotten plenty of play around the country. Here's Reuters' story. But will it have any affect on Race To The Top, on ESEA re-authorization,  or on the current obsession with high stakes test & punish reform strategies? Probably not.