One of the advocates of NCLB finally realized that this whole testing craze is not improving the education system. I can't believe anybody thought it was a good idea in the first place. I believe teachers should be held accountable but a one-size-fits-all education and unrealistic expectations is extremely ineffective.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304575109443305343962.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_opinion
Here are some quotes and my comments about the article.
“NCLB received overwhelming bipartisan support when it was signed into law by President Bush in 2002. The law requires that schools test all students every year in grades three through eight, and report their scores separately by race, ethnicity, low-income status, disability status and limited-English proficiency.”
Why report them separately? What are they doing with the information? Are they using it to help assess the problems these students are facing and determine solutions? Why are they separating them yet treating them as if they are like every other student as far as test scores are concerned and despite their limitations their teachers are held fully accountable if they don’t have high enough scores?
“NCLB mandated that 100% of students would reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014, as measured by tests given in each state.”
Why would anybody think that this could possibly work? As educators, we know that it is not always possible to reach 100% proficiency given the various factors. It seems like a very lofty and unrealistic goal. Actually, anyone with even a little common sense should know that this is impossible if we are including EVERY student into the equation. While teachers should absolutely strive to reach every student and to help each and every student realize his/her full potential and learn as much as possible, some students will not be able to make it to 100% proficiency in a year or two if they are already several grade levels behind.
“Meanwhile the states responded to NCLB by dumbing down their standards so that they could claim to be making progress.”
NCLB has created a monster! What a disservice we are doing not only to our children but to our nation. Do they not realize what an impact this will have on our own country if we don’t properly education our children? Oh wait, jobs/reputations are on the line…now I get it! My job and reputation is much more important than the future of our students and of the nation.
“The Obama administration seems to think that schools will improve if we fire teachers and close schools. They do not recognize that schools are often the anchor of their communities, representing values, traditions and ideals that have persevered across decades. They also fail to recognize that the best predictor of low academic performance is poverty—not bad teachers.”
I despise politicians, don’t trust them, and have come to the conclusion that none of them (regardless of their affiliation) have no clue as to how to manage the nation’s budget nor do they know anything about education. I’m sick and tired of all of their reckless spending and of their opinions of how education should be when they don’t even have a clue! They get no respect from me in this regard!
“What we need is not a marketplace, but a coherent curriculum that prepares all students. And our government should commit to providing a good school in every neighborhood in the nation, just as we strive to provide a good fire company in every community.”
I agree but the government doesn’t know how! That’s why I prefer for it to stay on the state level. We can have more impact and control, but not enough! Heck! The superintendent of the local school district where I live (Charlotte-Meck) is in favor of keeping the CMS TV station yet wants to fire a lot of teachers and increase class sizes and to top it off is pushing for merit pay and claims that higher education is unimportant! Even if you don’t work for CMS if you are a teacher you better pay attention and support our CMS teachers to fight this because let me tell you if he gets his way many other school districts WILL follow suit! Yeah so your salary is from a state scale and the state controls everything! Guess what, things are changing so watch out and be prepared to fight! That’s all I have to say! We have to learn to stand up for ourselves and push for a change because if we don’t take care of ourselves nobody else will! Maybe with the latest technology and more access to learning communities we can finally get ourselves organized and take a stand! Who is to say we can’t create a website to support teachers, come up with a catchy logo, name, catch phrase, and mission statement? Who’s to say we can’t wear a ribbon to support our teachers, create commercials to thank our teachers for everything they do, and obtain good publicity and seek out the respect that we deserve? If we want respect we have to demand it! It is also up to us to make a change! No one else is looking after us so it is up to us!
“On our present course, we are disrupting communities, dumbing down our schools, giving students false reports of their progress, and creating a private sector that will undermine public education without improving it. Most significantly, we are not producing a generation of students who are more knowledgeable, and better prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship. That is why I changed my mind about the current direction of school reform.”
I’m glad you changed your mind but what did you expect? Did you not see this coming? At least you are admitting your mistake and trying to educate the public!
I actually support charter schools and think they can be a great alternative but I see the point. The article states that they aren’t addressing the problem but rather causing more separation. Maybe that is the case. I would love to see a variety of schools open such as more technology schools, more schools for arts, math and sciences, trade schools, foreign languages, etc. so that students with different interests and talents can make the most of their education. That does defeat the whole purpose of public schools but I don’t understand why we have to have a one size fits all mentality. It is also sad that all the importance is placed on reading and math rather than other subjects. All students are different, all have different abilities, interests, talents, and motivation levels. We should be searching for a solution to reach as many students as possible and help them to have the best education that we can possibly offer them. Whether our politicians realize it or not, schools should be all about providing students with the best education possible and serving the students rather than spending all their time making rash decisions and blaming teachers.
Here is another, more detailed article about the same topic from NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124209100&sc=fb&cc=fp
No comments:
Post a Comment