Submitted by Teacher of Gifted (not verified) on March 14, 2007 - 16:57.
No Child Left Behind is leaving behind a giant population of our children. Those of us in the classroom see this more than anyone else. The pressure to "pass the test" is so great, that all teaching has gone out the window. The majority of instruction is spent addressing those who are in danger of not passing, so that those who will pass (on or above grade level students) are taught nothing of value.
Working with gifted students in a pullout program I see this every day. My students live for the day they can be out of class and come to pullout. There they are taught at their level, they learn, they explore, they do something other than "benchmarking" and "TAKS practice." They read books at their ABILITY level, not at their GRADE level. They learn about science and history (which doesn't happen often enough in the classroom at lower levels because these subjects aren't tested!).
I have colleagues who work with ELL students. These children are also being left behind. They aren't learning English, they aren't learning the vocabulary they need to know, they are learning "test strategies" so they can pass the test and move on to the next grade, where the same thing will happen again. When she finally refused to teach this way, an "assistant" was placed in her room to help her. While it was never said, she felt the person was put there to make sure she "followed the rules" and only taught the way they wanted her to. She is an excellent teacher and will be looking for a new position that respects her abilities rather than confines them.
While the concept of No Child Left Behind is an excellent one, due to the pressures of testing it exerts, it will never work. Children are individuals, they must be taught as such, not like little automatons that must all read, write and do math at the same age... we don't all develop and learn at the same rate.
No Child Left Behind is
Submitted by Teacher of Gifted (not verified) on March 14, 2007 - 16:57.
No Child Left Behind is leaving behind a giant population of our children. Those of us in the classroom see this more than anyone else. The pressure to "pass the test" is so great, that all teaching has gone out the window. The majority of instruction is spent addressing those who are in danger of not passing, so that those who will pass (on or above grade level students) are taught nothing of value.
Working with gifted students in a pullout program I see this every day. My students live for the day they can be out of class and come to pullout. There they are taught at their level, they learn, they explore, they do something other than "benchmarking" and "TAKS practice." They read books at their ABILITY level, not at their GRADE level. They learn about science and history (which doesn't happen often enough in the classroom at lower levels because these subjects aren't tested!).
I have colleagues who work with ELL students. These children are also being left behind. They aren't learning English, they aren't learning the vocabulary they need to know, they are learning "test strategies" so they can pass the test and move on to the next grade, where the same thing will happen again. When she finally refused to teach this way, an "assistant" was placed in her room to help her. While it was never said, she felt the person was put there to make sure she "followed the rules" and only taught the way they wanted her to. She is an excellent teacher and will be looking for a new position that respects her abilities rather than confines them.
While the concept of No Child Left Behind is an excellent one, due to the pressures of testing it exerts, it will never work. Children are individuals, they must be taught as such, not like little automatons that must all read, write and do math at the same age... we don't all develop and learn at the same rate.