Enough is enough. NCLB is destroying public education at precisely the historical moment when we will need it to shine.

Congress needs to sober up and end this atrocity while we have time to recover.

- Frank Krasicki
http://region19.blogspot.com

The major problem is the way results of the tests are interpreted by the political and media communities. A criterion referenced test is not a percentile test, etc .
If education fails in this country, it will not be the teachers who are dedicated and working overtime for the improvement of the students. It will be the fault of the political entities who wish to control education and issue negative comments through the media, finding fault with minor details.
As U.S. citizens, the teachers could certainly find fault with the way those in charge of the operation of this country have seen the decline of the freedoms and financial opportunities on which this nation's principles were established.

To me, its amazing to think that a well educated teacher practicing differentiated instruction followed by authentic assessments based on standards would have their classrooms ruined by NCLB. NCLB, although cumbersome and requiring more work than before, is not stopping my classroom from being one where learning is embraced and the child is readied for the future.

The time I have to spend on NCLB requirements drains me to no end! I want to focus on other aspects of leaning, not just worry about what is going to be on the next standardized test!
Just say NO to NCLB!

The "No behind left act" was designed to dismantle public education. It's mandates were not funded. The measurements it uses are suspect. Look at the recent 2007 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll:

67% of parents graded their local school an "A" or "B" in 2007
compared to 64% in 2006.
* 60% agreed "most public school students leave high school
adequately prepared for college."
* The "biggest problem" facing schools is lack of funding.
* 40% had a negative view of NCLB, while only 31% had a favorable
view
* Those claiming no opinion on NCLB declined from 69% in 2003 to
29% in 2007 with 27 of that 40 point change becoming negative.
* 48% are concerned that NCLB is reducing the teaching of
"science, health, social studies, and the arts."
* only 27% supported "finding an alternative to the existing
public school system."
* only 39% supported vouchers for private schools.
* two-thirds of the public and 70% of public school parents
opposed having "private profit-making corporations" run local schools.
* 59% of the public and 57% of public school parents opposed
having local mayors take over schools.
* 52% of parents felt "there is too much emphasis on achievement
testing" in 2007 compared with only 32% in 2002, and 16 of that 20 point
change previously felt it was "about right."
* 62% said that the current emphasis on standardized tests was a
"bad thing" because it encouraged teachers to teach to the tests. Only
39% of parents were concerned about this in 2003.
* 82% prefer a measure of student improvement, rather than whether
students pass a test, as the best way to measure school performance.
* 73% said they were "not willing" to have their child attend a
virtual high school over the internet.
* 85% said it was important for children to learn a foreign
language (but not necessarily in school).
* 79% think that English Language Learners should not have their
scores counted in measuring school performance until after they pass an
English proficiency test.
* 78% of public school parents said that Special Education
students should not be required to meet the same academic standards as
other students.

I believe the fundamental flaw in NCLB is the fact that the objectives are totally off - numbers on basic proficiency instead of an authentic look at student success; therefore any attempt to reframe these policies will be off as well.

In some districts, preparing students to take the state-wide tests take up to 25% of class time. Parents have it in their hands to end this by telling their children to skip the test and skip getting ready for the test. But that is not the entire answer either.

It's time to rethink school altogether. When will we look at what we are actually doing to children now? Can we agree that the current approach creates winners and losers when we should be creating learners? Why do we continue to insist that every student learn the same narrow curriculum when research clearly shows that every student has a unique set of abilities? What is the merit of grades, tests, homework, and endless drill and practice? What would happen if all grades, tests, homework, class attendance etc were optional? What would students actually do if they were not coerced, brainwashed, intimidated or otherwise made to do that which they are not the least bit interested in doing?

What should we pursue if we want to educate the whole child? We need to ask the child every day, what is interesting to you and what do you want to do? Children start school full of enthusiasm for the new environment, new things to do and people to meet. We don’t have to do very much to let this enthusiasm grow with the child’s development. However, if we insist they learn what adults have determined they must learn and learn right now, then by fourth grade, they will have learned that school is just boring repetition and drudgery.

If we want our young people to be better readers, then let them read interesting books every day. There is no shortage of interesting book for children of all ages. Let them read all day long, all week long, all month long if they are finding interesting things to read. An early love of reading can only be a good thing.

If we want better writing, then let them write every day and see for themselves that they are making progress. Let them share their writing with their teammates if they are willing. Let them learn all they can from reading interesting work and write all day long if that is their interest. An early confidence in their writing ability can only be a good thing.

If we want our young to be better prepared for college or work, then let them make real choices and real decisions about their future from the time they start school. On graduating from high school, each student has had over 12,000 hours of being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. The more schools seek to improve test scores, the more all of our children suffer the consequences. If our reforms seek only to do more to our children, research shows that it simply will not work. The children know what the problem is if only we have the courage to ask and actually listen.

The real purpose behind NCLB was to transfer public education over to corporate bandits. Already book publishers and business have a great deal of influence in public education. Let's hope that this Congress puts the charade of "scientifically based instruction" to rest by not reauthorizing this bill. Rather than helping the students it purports to help, NCLB has and will continue to result in huge stores of resources being designated to game-playing and number jockeying. Let teachers really help kids without interference from those who have agendas to fulfill and coffers to fill.

The goals of NCLB are inherent in the name of the law-NO Child Left Behind. In the thirty years preceding NCLB we saw a literature-based, culture-centric and ideological approach to education that failed most of the students who passed through our schools. Racial minorities, ethnic groups and the poor were underserved by this quasi-democratic, elitist ideology, and America has paid a high price for two generations of undereducated children. What could possibly be wrong with teaching a student to read and write and do math in a way that develops their skills and strategies for learning? Instead, there are those who want to return to that past. Hillary Clinton, for example, says that NCLB is leaving behind 'creativity'. Is that why so many foreign graduates are taking jobs away from American educated workers? I don't think so. I've had enough of the 'unique' and 'creative' and I just want to produce students who can read and write and think. If we go back to a time without standards, testing and accountability, we will guarantee that our children and grandchildren will face a future with more low paying jobs and dismal prospects.

It is patently absurd to believe that by 2012 -- five years -- all the students the high school where I teach will be proficient or better. We don't live in Lake Wobegone, "Where all the children are above average..." Yes, NCLB has raised test scores, but the ultimate goal needs to be trashed for a more realistic one -- one where teachers and students to their best to raise achievement.