No Child Left Behind still working
I suspect this is disappointing news to Democrats and the teachers' unions who are reluctant to give President Bush credit for anything, particularly if it is positive. I suspect they will still try to kill the program, because they do not like any testing that suggest the teacher may not be doing their job.Since the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted, critics have questioned whether the law’s mandate to bring students to "proficiency" has resulted in schools ignoring the needs of the nation’s highest- and lowest-achieving students.
A new study, released today, suggests those fears have not become reality.
The 50-state analysis found that test scores for both "advanced" and "basic" students rose in nearly three-quarters of assessments studied across states and grade levels, a level of progress only slightly lower than that of students reaching proficiency.
The study sought to examine a story line put forward in recent years—namely, that schools are not focusing on the highest- or lowest-scoring students, but rather on middle achievers, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which produced the report.
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I am a teacher in Oregon and I can tell you why test scores have improved since NCLB went into effect. What most people assume in their evaluation of NCLB’s “success” is that higher test scores mean more learning. In reality higher test scores have come from more testing, not more learning. Students used to be given one opportunity to test each year. It is now a common practice for student to be given the same test 2 and sometimes 3 times per school year. This is done in order to try and get the best scores possible out of students. A student who scores better the 2nd or 3rd time taking a test isn't necessarily scoring higher because of more learning, they are instead testing higher because they are getting more attempts. If you think about it, taking a reading, writing, math, science and in some places a social studies test two or three times per year is actually getting students LESS time in the classroom to learn. Less TIME to learn however is not the only problem with this system. More time prepping students for tests and giving tests takes away from lessons that educational RESEARCH shows actually improves learning. As a teacher I am tired of being held accountable for my 12 and 13 year old students ability or willingness to do their best on a test. I did an informal poll in my classroom last week. I asked students how many try their hardest on the state test. Only a few hands went up. When I asked why students didn't try their hardest they said things like "it doesn't matter how well I do because it doesn't effect my grade"; "It is too long, I start out trying my best but by the end I am just guessing to get done with the test"; "I don't want to be the last to finish so when I see other people start to finish I start guessing so I don't look stupid". As a teacher I am supposed to not only have students learn the content but also try to convince them to ignore fatigue, boredom, peer pressure, low self esteem, and the list goes on. There are also students who face test anxiety who want to do their best but cannot perform with a traditional test format. If it stopped here that would be one thing but this isn’t the craziest part of this ignorant law.
ReplyDeleteSome people feel No Child Left Behind should really be called No Teacher Left Unpunished; here is why. My wife is a teacher at a urban elementary school that did not meet AYP for the third year in a row. Overall, when looking at the schools entire population, their school more than met standards. Unfortunately, special education students were 2 percentage points from passing and non English speaking students were 1 percentage point from passing. Because of this they had to send a letter to every family in their school saying that their school had FAILED and offer to bus students to a school in a higher class area of town. Overall 24 students left to take the offer of going to another school. Not one of the students who left were students who had failed the test. ALL 24 were students who succeeded in my wife’s school and met benchmark. Since fewer students were enrolled at the school they lost a 2nd grade teacher. Because of the decrease in teachers one of the 2nd and 3rd grade classes had to become a blended classroom of 2nd and 3rd graders. This makes teaching more difficult...not easier. It also makes it more difficult to meet AYP when your students who are passing the test leave. No wonder teachers (you know the ones most effected by this law) feel punished. It is not motivating to be called a failure and makes the late nights, intense planning and hundreds of dollars we put into our classrooms that much harder to do. The sad part is that students are being punished as well with blended classrooms, over burdened teachers and testing, testing and more testing.
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