Submitted by David Phillips (not verified) on January 31, 2008 - 08:42.
Your question about NCLB and the article you base it on are both flawed.
The article is another case of pure Bush-bashing. When the president points out successes in NCLB, some educators are quick to shout "Not enough!" but the real problem is not with federal guidelines but with local schools, school boards, administrators, teachers and parents. We, as teachers, need to quit whining and do something for ourselves and our students. The federal government cannot make me discipline my classes nor can it make students do homework. It can't make me give my high school kids bell to bell content and well-designed assignments, and it can't make parents read to their pre-schoolers.
One of the author's primary points was that Bush's budget didn't keep up with the growth in research costs, but when I checked out the U.S. Civilian Research $ Development website, I found that millions are given in grants to programs that are meaningless to human beings or that are for other countries. Maybe the president would like to see more taxpayers' funds go to American projects that really enhance quality of human life.
The question is flawed because, again, the problem is not with NCLB, but with us as educators. When we start making education matter again and drive ourselves to prepare our students for a global economy, maybe kids would take school seriously and we could graduate more of them. I teach at a small, rural district with a very low socio-economic status, but our kids score well on standardized tests and a very high percentage graduate. But that's be cause our teachers are engaged with the students and their education, and parents are involved.
Bush bashing
Submitted by David Phillips (not verified) on January 31, 2008 - 08:42.
Your question about NCLB and the article you base it on are both flawed.
The article is another case of pure Bush-bashing. When the president points out successes in NCLB, some educators are quick to shout "Not enough!" but the real problem is not with federal guidelines but with local schools, school boards, administrators, teachers and parents. We, as teachers, need to quit whining and do something for ourselves and our students. The federal government cannot make me discipline my classes nor can it make students do homework. It can't make me give my high school kids bell to bell content and well-designed assignments, and it can't make parents read to their pre-schoolers.
One of the author's primary points was that Bush's budget didn't keep up with the growth in research costs, but when I checked out the U.S. Civilian Research $ Development website, I found that millions are given in grants to programs that are meaningless to human beings or that are for other countries. Maybe the president would like to see more taxpayers' funds go to American projects that really enhance quality of human life.
The question is flawed because, again, the problem is not with NCLB, but with us as educators. When we start making education matter again and drive ourselves to prepare our students for a global economy, maybe kids would take school seriously and we could graduate more of them. I teach at a small, rural district with a very low socio-economic status, but our kids score well on standardized tests and a very high percentage graduate. But that's be cause our teachers are engaged with the students and their education, and parents are involved.
It's not NCLB or Bush, it's us!