Comments | fclbrokle: Argument for No Child Left Behind

fclbrokle

Argument for No Child Left Behind

Feb 26, 2009 12:57

On NPR's Morning Edition today, there was a story about the No Child Left Behind law in which they went to a high school debate competition in Washington, DC where the topic was NCLB itself. The arguments presented were mostly boilerplate, and they tended to feature mostly arguments against the law: that states allow their standards to fall to ( Read more... )

Comments 6

pirocks February 26 2009, 21:03:54 UTC

Did you see this? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/education/23child.html?_r=1

Also, Stand and Deliver = best movie ever.

fclbrokle February 27 2009, 07:19:44 UTC

I did, yes. :)

Honestly, my favorite teaching movie remains Dead Poets' Society.

oxeador February 27 2009, 22:50:34 UTC

That is because for you it was a movie, and not real life. I had a high-school teacher (and I believe this was before the movie cam out), who behaved similarly and I hated him with all my passion.

fclbrokle February 27 2009, 23:18:33 UTC

I suspect that in general we would have different reactions to such a teacher. :)

seekingferret February 27 2009, 14:11:24 UTC

The thing I find is that a lot of what is thought to be true about NCLB is often the opposite of the reality. For example, your suggestion that states would lower standards is not always the case- New Jersey recently significantly increased the passing grade on its 8th grade test- a catastrophe for schools on the boundary between passing and failing, but the governor insisted that we actually have reasonable standards. States aren't just manipulating this. Many are taking advantage of it to impose legitimate reforms ( ... )

fclbrokle February 27 2009, 18:52:21 UTC

It's not always the case that states lower standards --- New Jersey apparently being a nice exception (I hadn't heard about this), and Massachusetts being another exception --- but it's certainly documented that a number of states have very, very low standards and a correspondingly high pass rate. (I can provide references if you are substantially interested.) If I recall correctly, there has also been a general trend downwards in state standards as compared to national exams. (This method has its flaws, but I trust it as a rough guide.)

As to being at a school that succeeded without teaching to the test, I certainly believe that, but: (a) you were in a middle class district, and (b) you may have been in one of the states that has more rigorous/interesting tests. I'm equally sick as you are of the practice of unnecessarily dumbing down education to "teach to the test," but it is also very clearly happening!