What are your thoughts on NCLB?

[kasar]

Last night was Open House at the Middle School and they harped on the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) over and over. Seems our town with nearly 5,000 students had ONE subgroup - about 40 students - not do as well as expected on the math portion ("Identified for Improvement") - there WAS improvement, just not high enough. Now, our town scores far above what's required on MCAS (Massachusett's standardized tests as required by NCLB), much better than the state average. We're considered a "High Performing District" yet you would never know it from last night's doom and gloom. Of course when it's reported in the newspapers that our entire school system is "Identified for Improvement" doesn't make people too happy when they know that the majority of the students perform well above state averages.

Here are the subgroups targeted (we are not privy to which subgroup didn't perform as well as expected):

1. Minority students
2. Students with Special Needs
3. Students with limited English proficiency
4. Low-income students

I am all for teacher accountability and for improving public education in this country but the expectation that EVERY student will be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 seems great in theory but unrealistic in reality. I'm also not a big fan of the labelling of kids into subgroups - some may fit in the "mold", others may not. It's not the testing that I mind (yes, they're "teaching to the test" but I'm happy with the high level of commitment and involvement that I've been seeing lately) it's the fact that there are just some kids that will never pass this test through no fault of the school systems.

I'm glad the government is focusing their energy and resources on education and I'm sure there are no perfect solutions but NCLB certainly has it's flaws.

How's NCLB working for your school district? What are your thoughts?

 

[bananiem]

I think it has a lot of flaws. I am for accountability but NCLB doesn't hold the parents and guardians accountable for anything. It's all up to the school. I think the top and average kids are being "left behind" because so much time is spent getting the kids who should get help at home up to par.
I also don't agree with comparing this year's class to last year's class. It's apples to oranges- different kids and circumstances. I think each child should be tracked for improvement and then focus on the class as a whole.
I keep remembering taking the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills in 5th grade and just filling in circles. I remember having a conference with my parents and teacher to figure out how I had suddenly done so poorly. One or two kids like me could really skew the results.
We have a decent school district. The subgroups that do poorly on the tests are the subgroups that you would expect to do poorly.

 

[mom2rb]

It's working so well here that I homeschool.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

In all honesty..I really don't understand what it is at all.

Is it a program?

Is it a euphamism?

Is this why we have all that testing? (Though I thought we've had standardized testing for years, way before NCLB).

 

[swanmom]

NCLB is 'smoke and mirrors' legislation ... sounds good and is a political spin doctors dream. Of course, our elected leaders would all like to claim that they can guarantee complete success for all children in all schools under all circumstances. But mostly what it guarantees is that teachers have to 'teach to the test,' that school districts have to comply with mandates that are not funded and stretch other resources to cover them, that statistics are tortured to make schools look like they're doing something and that decisions are based on tests that vary from state to state and district to district. Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

 

[bananiem]

Oh, and I forgot to add that the federal mandates are not being fully funded in the two districts my kids have been enrolled in.

 

[GEM]

We like to call it "No Child Gets Ahead".

 

[Toby'sFriend]

oh, this one is bound to get good.
I don't even know where to begin, other than I'm glad my kids aren't in Public school and don't have to deal with it anymore. My kids take the Terra Nova tests, but there isn't near the intense focus on the results.

I think NCLB nice catch-phrase that sounds so warm and fuzzy --- but blech. I think that what is happening has been dreadfully harmful to many schools.

I don't know the solutions to the problems. There is a huge racial divide in test scores here, which also reflects the educational level of the parents and household incomes. They've moved money and resources around like crazy but it doesn't seem to solve it. It is a touchy issue.

I hate that the standards focus solely on Reading, Math and Science. I fear that Social Studies, History, Writing, Music, Art and anything else that is not Reading, Math, or Science will soon almost disappear from Public Education.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

NCLB is 'smoke and mirrors' legislation ... sounds good and is a political spin doctors dream. Of course, our elected leaders would all like to claim that they can guarantee complete success for all children in all schools under all circumstances. But mostly what it guarantees is that teachers have to 'teach to the test,' that school districts have to comply with mandates that are not funded and stretch other resources to cover them, that statistics are tortured to make schools look like they're doing something and that decisions are based on tests that vary from state to state and district to district. Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

That's what I thought.

I thought it was just a Florida thing with our FCAT nightmare and school grading.

 

[kasar]

In all honesty..I really don't understand what it is at all.

Is it a program?

Is it a euphamism?

Is this why we have all that testing? (Though I thought we've had standardized testing for years, way before NCLB).

It's very complicated but basically in 2001 the federal govt. passed a new law that all states must comply with the federal expectation that every student will become proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. All educators are held to higher professional standards, and virtually every subgroup of students is expected to achieve at high levels. Each state is responsible to make their own standard test (this is where I see some problems - you can't compare apples with grapes, if you know what I mean).

The states have to submit their scores, teacher qualifications, attendance records, etc. to the federal government.

 

[JimB.]

Great intent, poor execution.

 

[DisneyVillain]

In Georgia, Gov. Perdue has recently replaced "No Child Left Untested" with "Every Child Left Behind".

 

[Marseeya]

Here's a great parody essay on NCLB:

No Dentist Left Behind

 

[RadioNate]

NCLB is 'smoke and mirrors' legislation ... sounds good and is a political spin doctors dream. Of course, our elected leaders would all like to claim that they can guarantee complete success for all children in all schools under all circumstances. But mostly what it guarantees is that teachers have to 'teach to the test,' that school districts have to comply with mandates that are not funded and stretch other resources to cover them, that statistics are tortured to make schools look like they're doing something and that decisions are based on tests that vary from state to state and district to district. Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now.

I agree. I also think we are losing some of our great teachers to NCLB. I think way to much emphasis is being put on testing and scores. How can teachers be expected to teach anything but the test when testing starts in Oct!

NCLB is a mess.

 

[chrissyk]

It's just the latest "thing" in education. Give it 10 years, and it will be replaced with something else. Everything is cyclical IMHO. Right now, it's all about standardized tests and NCLB. In 10 years, we may be back to rote memorization and no statewide testing for all we know. It all depends on the politicians. I don't get too worked up about it, because the only guarantee is that "policies" like this change depending on who is in office.

Then again, if I were a music or art or history teacher, I might be feeling a little different...it does seem that those things will take a backseat under NCLB. While I don't endorse the loss of these subjects, I DO feel strongly that great emphasis needs to be placed on the basics in schools right now. I just don't know that NCLB (or any other mandated program) is the way to go about it.

 

[kasar]

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=ln

Official site if anyone's still confused (I'm sure this website is just going to make everything crystal clear! LOL )

 

[Marseeya]

I agree. I also think we are losing some of our great teachers to NCLB. I think way to much emphasis is being put on testing and scores. How can teachers be expected to teach anything but the test when testing starts in Oct!

NCLB is a mess.

I've had two friends in special ed who have already lost jobs. They have to have an area of expertise and not a lot of special ed teachers do around here. My one friend happened to have her bachelors in secondary ed English, but when she switched to her masters in special ed, she was teaching math. She's very good at it, too! But since she doesn't have a degree in math, she had to go back to teaching English.

Another friend lost her job for a similar reason, but ended up finding a different school to work at.

Schools are going to lose a lot of good teachers because of technicalities.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I think NCLB does a disservice to large segments of the student population. It's not a great plan, but prior to this, the "answer" seemed to be throwing money at the problem. That didn't work for 40 years. There are so many issues involved--from teaching skills to parental skills to resources in and out of the classroom. I'm all for teaching immigrants to speak English, but how soon to you test them for proficiency? I used to work with a guy who flipped when his son was listed as an ESL kid because the mom spoke Vietnamese at home. He didn't want the kid in ESL classes, he wanted him in ENGLISH classes! The son was born in the USA! Multiply that situation by 100,000, and you have the different situations that can come up that don't fit neatly into someone's "plan".

I think the answer should be at the local, rather than federal level. Locally, you have a better chance of knowing which kids are truly needy, which ones have unsupportive parents, etc. It should allow some flexibility for special circumstances. And everyone, including parents, teachers, and administrators should be accountable to the children who will spend their whole lives either praising or regretting the choices the adults made.

 

[mrsltg]

Great idea impossible to implement. Some kids are dumb. There. I said it. Some kids are smart. Every child is not equal. There is no way to make every kid read and write. There is no way to educate every kid under the current system.

The catch phrase that I hate is "teaching to the test". Well, essentially, that's what education is in the first 12 years, and even into college now. What's on the test is what you need to know. If you don't know it, you've failed. Yes, all teaching should be "to the test". The point is to give these kids the background that they need to move onto something else. Example - truth tables in 9th grade algebra. Who the heck cares what P is if R is true? What bearing does this have on real life? Maybe R is actually false? Who decided it was true? But, I had to learn because that's what the higher-ups said I needed to know. I was taught to the test. I passed the test and am now gainfully employed doing something that has nothing to do with truth tables...

Erin

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Here's a great parody essay on NCLB:

No Dentist Left Behind

That is funny.

And sadly--makes me understand NCLB better.