Merrydale Elementary School in Baton Rouge, Louisana, has a problem: its test scores were abysmal. That in and of itself isn't a unique problem - many schools have low tests scores - but Merrydale's solution on how to raise its test scores is.
See, most failing schools try to improve its teaching staff to raise test scores, but the enterprising Louisiana school decided to do something else: import smarter students!
The proposal to move 100 gifted and talented students this fall from Glen Oaks Park Elementary, a C-rated school, to nearby Merrydale Elementary, an F-rated school, generated some heat Thursday. [...]
The higher-scoring gifted students would likely increase the school performance score of Merrydale from 71.2 to an estimated 77.5 under the shift, high enough to avert a state takeover.
Charles Lussier of The Advocate has the scoop: Link
Say that good students + good teacher = test score of 10
good students + bad teacher = test score of 8
bad students + good teacher = test scores of 5
bad students + bad teacher = test scores of 3
So you can skew the test scores up by either improving the teachers (and keeping the bad/good student mix you have), or adding more good students (and keeping the bad teachers).