May 31, 2004
No Child Left Behind
Is the No Child Left Behind Act creating a hierarchy of "haves" and "have nots" even before any sanctions are placed on schools that don't meet assessment standards?
In "School Pushes Reading, Writing, Reform" by Linda Perlstein in today's Washington Post, we learn that some schools, primarily, schools "that have low test scores and large numbers of poor children" are dropping their science and social studies curricula to focus on helping struggling students pass reading tests. "Two strata of schools are being created," Perlstein writes, "one in which students gain broad knowledge and the groundwork for becoming scientists, and another in which children will, in some ways, be left behind."
This is the very problem that many educators have predicted: if you institute standardized tests and enforce them by making the schools' funding dependent on them, then the schools will teach to the tests. Even if this shift in focus improves reading skills, it must sacrifice other portions of the curriculum to accomodate them. But I suspect that there's so much analysis and anxiety about this going on, that the students are not only being taught in very closed-minded ways, they are also being overtested, which means that classes that teach are being turned into classes that test. And there are many problems with relying on monolithic testing procedures.
For an outsider like me, who has very little to do with primary or secondary school education (beyond teaching and advising a few future English teachers -- and preparing for the future graduates from today's educational system), the NCLBA seems awfully complex and problematic -- and no one seems to like it. Pennsylvania offers a roadmap to figure out how to implement it. PBS's Frontline has a special page dedicated to it -- "Testing our Schools" -- with some fantastic links to opinions and information online about the act's various issues. I've only heard of a few arguments in favor of the Act's strengths (primarily, the money it dedicates to teacher development), but even those are skeptical. I'm still trying to learn more about the NCLB. Right now, it seems to me that the ends (accountability and improved basic skills) do not justify the means (holding funding over school's heads and over-assesing students).
The NEA opposes it, and some strong activist groups like Fair Test and Pencil's Down are adamantly against it. The handful of high school teachers I know in the trenches seem to generally oppose it and parents seem to agree. Reading around online reinforces my suspicion that the NCLB is punishing schools for failure rather than rewarding them for success. When polled, more than half of US parents would rather use federal funds to reduce class sizes, whereas only 10 percent would put those funds toward implementing and enforcing the NCLB. In fact, 3/4 would oppose cutting off funds to schools if the schools fail to meet the standards (these polls were conducted by the Civil Society Institute).
There is a lot of sabre rattling about this act, and it's a political hotbutton -- especially in an election year. Is a "Chalkboard Rebellion" in the works? Is the No Child Left Behind Act nothing more than a marketing scheme by the Bush Administration? A form of fascism we haven't seen since Nazi Germany?
Some reactions to the NCLBA are a bit over the top, but it's certainly an issue that's hitting home. It will be interesting to see how this plays out during the elections.
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Comments
Hello!
I have been exploring new blogs and find yours very appealing! Thank you for your efforts. I think we share similar ideas. The NCLB "ideal" is wrecking havoc in the K-12 system in Michigan. It is only a matter of time before it alters the students I receive at the university level.
PipeTobacco
http://frumpyprofessor.blogspot.com
does anyone have any sites of studies that I can get my hands on regarding high stakes testing?
Thank you, I'm enjoying the blogs. Australia has also gone along the path of National testing. The small kinder-grade 12 school at which I teach has a Communications block in the morning: Literacy, Phys Ed and then Numeracy -streamed groups with children aged grade 4 (9years) to grade 10 (16 years). The school recently won a National Literacy and Numeracy Week Achievement Award for 'innovation' and "value adding" students' literacy learning. We needed the money so I wrote the submission, but I really feel I am 'selling out' as well as 'value adding' when education becomes so driven by economics: not only finances but also the language of economics!
Does anyone know what special interest groups backed NCLB?
You know, I'm in Texas, and I'm studying to be an all level special education teacher, but the more I hear about what the government is doing "to" our schools and teachers these days, it seriously makes me wish I'd invested my educational dollars spent at my university on a different career (on one hand). However, on the other hand, it angers me to the point that I want to be like "Coach Carter" or the teacher in "Stand by Me" - and be truly radical in the ways that I teach and reach my students.
I agree that no child should be left behind, but I do not agree whatsoever on the standardized testing to the degree it is pushed. I also do not agree that a teacher should be punished for test scores not up to state standards. Held accountable for, yes, but not punished. If a teacher is doing the best he/she can to teach, that's all they can do. They can't force a student to learn. Their best hope is to give their students some sort of incentive to WANT to learn.....so if a student chooses to test poorly because they've willingly refused to learn - why should a teacher be punished for the student's choice?
It's almost a catch 22 with everyone in society stating that all the "hoodlums" and such are in society today because they didn't get a good education and a good home life. Well, the home life a teacher can't really change....BUT - he/she can make a difference at school....providing the schools have what they need to do a good job. And we all know the government doesn't make sure that teachers really have what they need.
I've known many a teacher who went into teaching with a fervor and a passion that was indescribable, only to become a jaded individual years later when they can't win for losing in the school system and government.
When this happens, we not only lose good teachers, but good productive members of society because our students lose out too.
Keep up the good posting, I'm enjoying them.
Patty
I am a student in tthe seventh grade and i will be taking the GEPA and HESPAS soon, I think these test are not needed and that we are being overtested. In every class we have test and quizzes and we have mid-terms.On top of that we have to take test at the end of the year.We are definetly being overtested!I am writing and essay on NCLB and I think that it is not necessary and what if you fail the test but you have been passsing with goood grades for the whole year?Does that mean that you can not pass?
Also I think that teachers should decide if the students pass or if they fail not because of the GEPA or HESPA but because of how the have been doing for the whole year.When polled,more thatn half of the US parents would rather use federal funds to reduce class sizes,whereas only 10 percent would put those funds toward the NCLB.
I'm in eleventh grade at a Waldorf school (a very small, creative private school) and I would just like to say that your level of education makes very little difference on how well you do on standardized tests. I'm going to take the SATs in a month. The material bears no relationship to anything that would be particularly helpful in later life, unless you want to become a crossword-puzzle champion. Some people are natural test-takers and some aren't, and if you aren't, the only thing you can do is to take some prep course, like Kaplan, which only emphasizes the inequality of standardized testing — it costs $600 for a six-week prep course and the necessary prep books. If schools are being required to teach according to a standardized test syllabus, no wonder the students aren't interested or motivated!
I am a mother of six ages, 10-26 yrs. I live in Missouri and it is a shame where education is going. My older kids did really well in school. Then MAP and Tera-Nova took over, and No child left Behind. So sad, my younger kids are not even learning basic skills as addition and Multiplication. they have poor spelling skills, and though the state says they will learn phonics. They aren't. I spend more hours after school teaching them then they are at school. Everything is based on testing and the outcome. I had no choice but to test one of my children and have them placed in Special Education classes. It was my only choice in order for him to graduate. I see it as a possibility for the two younger then him.
You can not make it without the basic skills, but the teachers tell you that they don't have time to teach them. The have a block of time for which they must learn these skills. If they don't then it is simply to bad. They cram for state tests and even give answers when they know that they can't get the kids taught a skill in time for testing. Who realizes this is happening, who sees that education in going down hill for the average kid. I have an 8 month old grand-child and i feel sorry for what he will have for an education. Teachers are no longer teachers as we 40+ had. They are Instructors. They say their hands are tied and that we the parents caused this. I don't think so. I have spent a lot of hours working with my kids, i am a full-time mother, and it makes me so sad to see what our kids are getting. I have one child who is "gifted". She will graduate in the spring. She has taught teachers how to do certain things and corrected their mistakes. She has been a better teacher then the instructors she has had.
I think that everyday parents should be surveyed about what really goes on. You have to be taught to read in order to read test questions, but there isn't time, but you can be put into Special Ed. or Title 1 and then you are excused, but still not taught and someone gets paid extra money for it. Someday maybe someone will realize that basic skills well learned are far more important then test scores for money.
THE NO FILM STUDIO LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2007
by Randy Spitzer
Sunday night, as my wife and I watched the Academy Awards, it hit me. For each winner announced and awarded with a gold-plated Oscar statue, there were four nominees who failed to win the award (a stunning 80% failure rate.) I think you'll agree with me, that this failure rate is simply no longer acceptable in American society. We need greater accountability from the film industry! We need the "NO FILM STUDIO LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2007."
It seems logical to me that since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 says that "all children are expected to achieve at the same high levels of learning," I think it's only reasonable that the movie-going public should expect "all films, actors, directors, producers and all other professionals involving in the filmmaking process to achieve at the same high level of entertainment." That's why I'm calling for the United States Congress to pass the NO FILM STUDIO LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2007. With the passage of the ACT, film studios and the academy will be required to raise the achievement of the film industry.
Here's how it will work. Every studio will be required to reach proficiency (winning Oscars) by the year 2012. If any single group within a studio (i.e., actors, directors, producers, technicians, etc.) fails to reach proficiency (winning an Oscar) the entire studio will be considered to have fallen short of the standard.
Studios that fall short of winning Oscars in every category by 2012 will be required to refund the full price of every movie ticket purchased since passage of the ACT. Further, studios falling short of the proficiency standard will be required to provide free admission to all films produced by the studio until such time as the proficiency standard is met.
To accomplish this important goal, beginning in 2008 the ACT will require that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences increase the number of winners in every award category by 20% each year until all nominees in every category achieve at the same high level - winning an Oscar.
Further, the academy will be accountable for raising the number of film studios that win Oscars. Beginning in 2012 the academy will be required to increase the number of award nominees in each category by not less than 10% per year until all studios are reaching proficiency (i.e., winning Oscars.) If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences fails to award an Oscar to every studio by 2022, it shall be considered to have fallen short of the proficiency standard, and will be required to stop broadcasting the annual awards ceremony until such time as all films (and those involved in creating them) are consistently winning Oscars.
With the enactment of this important legislation accountability in the film industry can be realized. The 80% achievement gap between winners and losers can be closed; substandard movies can be eliminated; and the movie-going public can be assured of seeing only films at the same high level of entertainment - Oscar winning entertainment!
Randy Spitzer is Executive Vice President in charge of curriculum development at LCI (Lebow Company, Inc.). Randy's first book, Accountability - Freedom and Responsibility without Control, coauthored with Rob Lebow, has been recommended as a "best book" by several of the leading social psychology and organizational development associations involved in Change Management. Randy is also author of the soon-to-be-released book, Wise Counsel Leadership - The New Leadership Model for TransAction Zone Thinking. Randy has published numerous articles on the topic of Process Improvement, Change Management, and Leadership, topics that he believes are the keys to heightening organizational performance. Randy is a 1974 cum laude graduate of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. He has been a choral conductor since 1972 and is currently the artistic director of Cora Voce (Chorus of Voices), a professional choir. Randy and his wife of 35 years in Washington State have two adult children.
While it would be nice to compare education to the Academy awards, the truth of the matter is that we should all have some proficiency in what we are tested on and in. My child left elementary school meeting the standards he was required to meet and now as he enters middle school it appears to me that no one in the educational field really wants to do their duties and be accountable. Instead of meeting the challenge of teaching the students middle school educators in my child's ""choice" school of no child left behind" seem to be intent on knocking down the law. We all here the drop out rate went up becuase of NCLB maybe we need to call it the push out rate becuase teachers wanted to keep the status quo as is, ie. not grading papers, pulling a grade out of their head , and just basically sitting in front of the class waiting for their check to arrive. Teaching is the only profession where hired individuals do not have to have results. In all professions if you don't have the results you are gone. As for failure to make AYP, if a company has failing profits for two years the company can go out of business, if a principal has failing students after a full five years at a school s/he needs to be reassigned to the class room or to the county office - no exceptions, no excuses. In my rant I would like to say that elementary educational professionals seem to have let go of the lazy attitudes and seem to be workiing like literal beavers to educate primary students. If I am angry it's becuase of my child''s recent experiences in middle school. I am in my 30's and the middle school teachers act like the teachers that were around when I was young, losing papers, not giving papers back, and just overall in African American vernacular trifling. I have started a blog where I am discussing my child's expereinces as a no child left behind student. YOu can read it at the following link:
http://nochildlftbehind.wordpress.com
You covered it pretty well Mike. The accountability really peeves me. Its motive is good, but so horribly implimented it hurts. You are going to punish good teachers who choose to teach in lower schools? That will mean all the good teachers will go to the schools with the better scores (which most often pay better). My school had separate reading classes for all the 8th and 7th graders. Reading scores didn't really improve. You can't force kids to try. They are still going to make pictures or just guess "c" on the scantron sheets. There is no incentive/punishment/accountability for the students themselves. I'm fine with being accountable for how I teach. Don't force me to teach something, to a group of kids that don't want to learn it, and then say it's my fault for their poor test scores. You are going to punish the teacher who had to teach the remedial English class, and reward the teacher who got the AP class. All students are not the same. Part of our education as teachers is learning that, and figuring out ways to teach those different students. Yes, there are some bad teachers. There are also some great teachers who have horrible classes.
This plan will actually create a bigger disparity between the haves and have nots. You can't force parents/students to care about education. That is the biggest problem, taking money away from their school isn't going to help that.