NCLB
Responding to your requests for my point of view regarding the NCLB legislation I offer the following:
The disagreements with NCLB for the most part seem to miss the larger picture of what the legislation is attempting to ameliorate. Clearly most understand that NCLB is a foundational cornerstone for the civil rights challenge of this generation. Yet lawsuits are being filed regarding insufficient funding available to meet student testing requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In spite of the disagreements, the legislation is succeeding where many have failed, i.e., attacking what President Bush has called the "...soft bigotry of low expectations...," especially for schoolchildren and youth of color and those challenged by poverty.
The act is not perfect, and the federal government has much to address. But NCLB is forcing policy-makers, stakeholders, parents and administrators to attend to the academic needs of students who depend on schools for success, i.e., "school reliant" students who do not have the resources in their homes or communities which allow them to succeed. It is forcing those who would hide behind aggregate achievement gains, to reflect more completely on the academic needs of all schoolchildren because of the disaggregated data requirements.
However, one does not have to look too far into the horizon to see the developing legislative challenges, for example: enabling district special education categorizations to avoid testing requirements; forcing students to dropout of school, or counseling them to look for jobs rather than pursing rigorous academics, namely caused by misperceptions about student capacity for learning.
The bad news is that only about "...two-thirds of American teenagers (and just half of all black, Latino and Native American teens) graduate with a regular diploma four years after they enter high school. And of those who graduate, only about half read well enough to succeed in college. By some measures US students are 24th out of 29. (NYT's, Bob Herbert column, A15, 2005.)"
Given the implications of the data above, there obviously is a looming problem that this nation will face, for in our children's lifetime, America will no longer be a majority/minority country -- demographics suggest that we will be a minority/majority nation, one where whites are just another minority. This demographic shift may well force this nation to recognize that education is not only a civil right but a human right as well. America to remain globally competitive will have to find a way to educate ALL students in this nation. This begins with NCLB. Yes, it is only a start, but a necessary one.
Yet sadly, when testing drives education, problems will often arise in implementation. These may range from students turning off to what they deem as boring instruction, to assumptions about the arts as being superfluous to curriculum, thus denying students the opportunities for learning skills which are creative and freeing, disciplined and patterned -- all skills which can engage learners and enliven learning. And too, when instruction is led by standardized testing, instruction regarding skills such as analysis, forming patterns and developing insights and understanding may be lost, or at best marginalized -- not integrated throughout the curriculum of American schools.
Employers search for graduates who can problem-solve, make good decisions and work collaborative with other employees. And as we are aware, and whether we agree or not, black, Hispanic and Latino students are often viewed by potential employers as having poor communication skills, less able to work in teams, less dependable and willing to learn. It is the responsibility of all educators to prove those employers wrong in their assumptions. What we have got to remember is that skills required in the "new flat world" contemporary economies, include not only the basic skills required on most high-stakes testing of NCLB, but also the importance of higher-order literacy and mathematical skills, as well as skills related to communication, punctuality, responsibility, attitude, teamwork ability and conflict resolution; consequently; noncognitive as well as higher-order cognitive skills are required that go way beyond the limitations of NCLB standardized testing. Finding the balance between what we test and what is expected in the real-world remains a challenge for any legislation driven by testing. For as John Dewey, a progressive educator of the early 1900s continues to teach us, "schooling should be less about the preparation for life and more about life itself." So where do we go from here?
Sooner or later, the nation, regions and localities in America will understand the daunting and expensive task of educating all students. It requires more than just testing. It will require placing highly qualified teachers in every classroom, as well as confronting the stereotypes and prejudices that continue to affect how Americans perceive academic ability based on race and poverty. NCLB if used correctly can sound an alarm about critical issues in American education that is typical given short shrift. Yet it is the belief in the capacity of virtually ALL schoolchildren and youth to learn the curriculum of American schools that remains paramount. NCLB is just the beginning of the process. The daunting task of education reform remains a headwind that America must brace and ready itself to face.
Proactive versus reactive policies are demanded.
Given the realities of American culture, "...cartoonish characters like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton may be good for a laugh, but they're useless as role models. It's the kids who are logging long hours in the college labs, libraries and lecture halls who will most easily remain afloat in the tremendous waves of [local, regional and global] competition that have already engulfed large segments of the American work force." (see NYT's, Bob Herbert).
The disagreements with NCLB for the most part seem to miss the larger picture of what the legislation is attempting to ameliorate. Clearly most understand that NCLB is a foundational cornerstone for the civil rights challenge of this generation. Yet lawsuits are being filed regarding insufficient funding available to meet student testing requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In spite of the disagreements, the legislation is succeeding where many have failed, i.e., attacking what President Bush has called the "...soft bigotry of low expectations...," especially for schoolchildren and youth of color and those challenged by poverty.
The act is not perfect, and the federal government has much to address. But NCLB is forcing policy-makers, stakeholders, parents and administrators to attend to the academic needs of students who depend on schools for success, i.e., "school reliant" students who do not have the resources in their homes or communities which allow them to succeed. It is forcing those who would hide behind aggregate achievement gains, to reflect more completely on the academic needs of all schoolchildren because of the disaggregated data requirements.
However, one does not have to look too far into the horizon to see the developing legislative challenges, for example: enabling district special education categorizations to avoid testing requirements; forcing students to dropout of school, or counseling them to look for jobs rather than pursing rigorous academics, namely caused by misperceptions about student capacity for learning.
The bad news is that only about "...two-thirds of American teenagers (and just half of all black, Latino and Native American teens) graduate with a regular diploma four years after they enter high school. And of those who graduate, only about half read well enough to succeed in college. By some measures US students are 24th out of 29. (NYT's, Bob Herbert column, A15, 2005.)"
Given the implications of the data above, there obviously is a looming problem that this nation will face, for in our children's lifetime, America will no longer be a majority/minority country -- demographics suggest that we will be a minority/majority nation, one where whites are just another minority. This demographic shift may well force this nation to recognize that education is not only a civil right but a human right as well. America to remain globally competitive will have to find a way to educate ALL students in this nation. This begins with NCLB. Yes, it is only a start, but a necessary one.
Yet sadly, when testing drives education, problems will often arise in implementation. These may range from students turning off to what they deem as boring instruction, to assumptions about the arts as being superfluous to curriculum, thus denying students the opportunities for learning skills which are creative and freeing, disciplined and patterned -- all skills which can engage learners and enliven learning. And too, when instruction is led by standardized testing, instruction regarding skills such as analysis, forming patterns and developing insights and understanding may be lost, or at best marginalized -- not integrated throughout the curriculum of American schools.
Employers search for graduates who can problem-solve, make good decisions and work collaborative with other employees. And as we are aware, and whether we agree or not, black, Hispanic and Latino students are often viewed by potential employers as having poor communication skills, less able to work in teams, less dependable and willing to learn. It is the responsibility of all educators to prove those employers wrong in their assumptions. What we have got to remember is that skills required in the "new flat world" contemporary economies, include not only the basic skills required on most high-stakes testing of NCLB, but also the importance of higher-order literacy and mathematical skills, as well as skills related to communication, punctuality, responsibility, attitude, teamwork ability and conflict resolution; consequently; noncognitive as well as higher-order cognitive skills are required that go way beyond the limitations of NCLB standardized testing. Finding the balance between what we test and what is expected in the real-world remains a challenge for any legislation driven by testing. For as John Dewey, a progressive educator of the early 1900s continues to teach us, "schooling should be less about the preparation for life and more about life itself." So where do we go from here?
Sooner or later, the nation, regions and localities in America will understand the daunting and expensive task of educating all students. It requires more than just testing. It will require placing highly qualified teachers in every classroom, as well as confronting the stereotypes and prejudices that continue to affect how Americans perceive academic ability based on race and poverty. NCLB if used correctly can sound an alarm about critical issues in American education that is typical given short shrift. Yet it is the belief in the capacity of virtually ALL schoolchildren and youth to learn the curriculum of American schools that remains paramount. NCLB is just the beginning of the process. The daunting task of education reform remains a headwind that America must brace and ready itself to face.
Proactive versus reactive policies are demanded.
Given the realities of American culture, "...cartoonish characters like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton may be good for a laugh, but they're useless as role models. It's the kids who are logging long hours in the college labs, libraries and lecture halls who will most easily remain afloat in the tremendous waves of [local, regional and global] competition that have already engulfed large segments of the American work force." (see NYT's, Bob Herbert).
posted by Eric J. Cooper at 9:28 AM
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