No Child Left Behind talking points

[sbj405]

Since * is apparently running his domestic agenda surrounding NCLB, do you guys have good talking points? The name is, like everything in this admin, extremely misleading. Besides the fact that he didn't fully fund it. And that military recruiters have access to high schoolers contact info.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. It relies too heavily on tests

so that teachers spend their time teaching the test instead of teaching. Another point: not everyone is great at taking paper and pencil tests, but these are the only kind allowed.

[Darby]

9. good info on NCLB here:

http://www.securitymomsforkerry.com/NCLB.html

[sisenor]

2. BUSH'S ANSWER TO EVERYTHING WAS NCLB

He's got to shape up, that asshole. He knows nothing.

My sister has a biology degree (BS) and is a hard worker --- she is a cashier at a cafe and can't find a job that matches her skills.

My husband has an MBA and he is a hard fucking worker (six to five - 10 hours each weekday). He never misses a day. And he works as shipping clerk in a wire factory.

SO BUSH, GFYS, there are plenty of educated people out there who cannot find good work.

[sbj405]

3. Absolutely, I wish JK had busted out the white collar unemployment rate

It's not just the manufacturing jobs that are non-existent. And of course, the jobs figures don't account for your sister or husband - the underemployed.

[Francesca]

6. yes he seemed to imply the explanation

behind the average American's economic hardship was that they were just not educated enough.... Pretty insulting....

[German-Lefty]

4. Something honest nobody will say: school is about more than literacy

I'm all for making sure people can read and do basic arithmetic, but they should be able to do this by the end of elementary school.

Being able to read isn't going to get you into a good university. Being able to read isn't going to get you a great job. We've set the standard way way too low.

In Germany they complain about the system failing here. Well there are still a bunch of kids that come out of school speaking foreign languages, doing calculus, and frankly doing about as well as a sophomore in an American university.

The people that don't make it to these upper level schools (gymnasium) get apprenticeships/internships with state funded education for their field. So if you're on your way to being a bank teller, the state pitches in half.

What happens in the states. Uncle SAM says "ok, you know how to read now, good bye. Hope you made it into college, otherwise you'll have to get an job as an unskilled laborer at some national chain."

I went to your public schools and university and got a great education. You take care of the upper class. The other classes just kind of get screwed.

[phylny]

7. Not everywhere

In New York State, there are schools that help children who are NOT on a college track. BOCES schools (Board of Cooperative Education Services) have helped countless people, all funded by public dollars as public education.

http://www.ouboces.org/progserv.html

[phylny]

5. NCLB is flawed

because the tests do not allow for the normal, necessary, modifications some children need to be properly tested. For example, some children might need small groups for testing, to have the instructions read to them, or additional time when permitted to complete the test, all for valid reasons that pertain to their disability and are mandated in their IEPs. In addition, NCLB does not allow for alternative measures for testing that some children need. I worked with some children who were severely mentally retarded and we would need to compile a book of the child's work for the Commonwealth of Virginia to prove that the child had an education program and was learning. No, the child couldn't spell, read, add or subtract, but the child had an education program and was learning. The child could write his name, or stamp it appropriately. He could sort colors. He was able to answer simple questions about his activities of daily living (What's your name? Who's your teacher? What's your phone number?) Would this child be "left behind" because a teacher wasn't doing her job? Is the fact that this child can't read the teacher's fault?

It makes no accommodations for children who speak English as a second language. It takes 5-7 years for a child, even one who was born here, to begin to learn in another language. That means that if a kid comes to Kindergarten speaking only Spanish, he'll catch up to his peers when it comes to LEARNING subject matter in English by the time he's ten or twelve. It's misleading because that child will probably *speak* English well in a year or two, but reading text, understanding what the teacher says, fully understanding your classmates, being able to write an essay in English, all takes time.

NCLB does not take into account the fact that there is a bell curve in intelligence. Many children have difficulties learning and no amount of testing and drilling will make them perform in the average range. Additionally, there are many children with IQs of, say, 75 (85 - 115 is "average" with 100 being the mean, 115 being high average, and 85 being low average) who are going to struggle in school and who are NOT disabled according to the IDEA and do not qualify for special education services. Yet teachers are supposed to magically make these children pass a test that will be incredibly difficult for them.

NCLB is another example of the government sticking its nose into matters that it hasn't a clue about, all for a really great "tag line." No Child Left Behind sounds great, doesn't it? The reality of the program is extremely flawed.

(edited because I was left behind in typing class in the 70s)

[lawladyprof]

8. The elephant in the living room

One major problem is that in the tremendous effort to get higher scores from average and below average kids, gifted students will be bored beyond belief. Many, especially boys ('cause IMHO you can keep girls in line a little more easily), will become behavioral problems if there is nothing interesting or challenging to do at school.

This decrease in academic achievement by many (although not all) of the country's brightest youngsters, will mean, over the long haul fewer innovators, outside-the-box thinkers, critical thinking people in the workforce and more go-along-get-along thinkers and workers. It may be short-term gain at the expense of the long-term (the percentage/number of the people who make the breakthroughs that solve problems). In this it reflects the business model, that Bush is so comfortable with, applied yet again (sigh) to education.

I am so glad my children (one in a doctoral program and the other an undergrad. who made near 1600 on the SAT's are no longer in K12 education). I have a bit of experience keeping super bright youngsters engaged in school when the curriculum is stuff they learned several years ago.

[LWolf]

10. There are too many for one post, or one thread.

Here's a start:

1. The tests are flawed, and the way the scores are computed and reported mathematically corrupt. The goals are statistically impossible, thereby guaranteeing that every school will eventually fail.

2. While Bush Inc. is drumming the mantra of rising test scores, the NAEP scores have been flat; they are not rising, and, in some cases are going down. The only scores that have shown any improvement at all are math scores, and those scores improved a little 4 years ago, before implementation of NCLB. The test scores as reported by NCLB, are not reliable or valid. See # 1.

3. When schools are "at risk," "in need of improvement," etc., they have to restructure to suit those handing down the sanctions. This restructuring tends to require some or all of the following:

Hiring professional for-profit ed "consultants" who support * to come in and tell you how to do it his way. Public money taken out of the classroom to enrich Bush supporters. More below.

Purchasing scripted curriculums from corporate publishing companies who are Bush/repub donors, taking instructional control away from the educator and handing it to the corporation.

Outsourcing tutoring programs to for-profit tutoring companies with limited philosophies, strategies, etc. to help students learn---more drill and kill, paid to Bush supporting companies with public funds.

More testing. Which means more lost instructional time, more stress and pressure on kids and teachers, and more $$ in the pockets of test producers, who just coincidentally happen to be Bush supporters.

4. Reliance on shoddy or misleading "research" to drive decisions. Research conducted by the very companies who are selling the products and donating to the Bush administration. Research that does not use adequate sample sizes. Research that is designed to ensure the results supporting particular products or methodology before it is even conducted. Sort of like a "Tide" commercial showing you the "test" that proves it gets the stains out better than the competition.

I could go on, but that should get you started. Here are a few websites that can give you more:


http://www.nochildleft.com/

http://sosvoice.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/080203Rose/080203rose.html

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0111-04.htm

http://www.fairtest.org/arn/arn.htm

http://www.america-tomorrow.com/bracey/EDDRA/

http://www.susanohanian.org/

[pmbryant]

11. Bush didn't live up to his promises on funding

By tens of billions of dollars.

So it is an unfunded mandate. Amongst a host of other problems, this is the most obvious.

--Peter