Let me start by stating for the record that I am not a teacher or educator. My opinions are just that – my opinions based on my experiences as an involved parent. I volunteer every week at my daughter’s school so I get to see some of this stuff first hand. I also read about this stuff since it concerns my daughter. This also is not about ‘Indoctrination’ or any other ‘Gubmint school’ nonsense.
When Bush I instituted the NCLB or ‘nickelbee’ act, I truly believe the intentions were good, but like most government involvement the execution is where things fall apart. I’ll go through some of the bullet points below.
Standardized testing
There have been standardized tests since I was a kid. I remember ours here in Arizona had the explanatory stuff on the back in English, Spanish & Navajo, which I thought was a only spoken language & didn’t even know had a written component. It was interesting to me because there accent marks (apostrophes) everywhere.
By the 4th grade I had picked up a lot of bad study habits because everything came so easy for me. By then I was hitting the 9th grade percentile & by 6th grade or so I was maxing out at the top. I’m not trying to brag, just stating the facts. I might even have some of my achievement tests & I’ll post a scan if I can find any. One year (not sure which) I decided to goof off & just fill in the bubbles to make patterns & whatnot. I didn’t score as well as usual, but did manage to still score well above my level.
The NCLB tends to encourage teachers to ‘teach the test’ and ignore the practical applications of what they are teaching. This leads to kids can do straight up 2 + 2 addition, but are baffled by ‘word problems’ where they have to figure out what is actually being asked. These are what my daughter has the most trouble with. They only touch on these in class so I’m trying to help her with the critical thinking stuff. While ‘multiple guess’ testing is the norm, I’ve always found essay questions & their ilk to be more engaging. I know they’re harder to grade, but I think they result in better answers.
Since under NCLB each state can set their standards, they can make the test easier to increase scores. I don’t think Arizona has done that, but at least one state (I think it was Missouri) openly admitted to doing just that.
Another direct affect of "teaching to test" is that focus gets narrowed to the subjects tested & the other parts of the core curriculum such as social studies & literature gat less emphasis. Then non-core subjects like art & music get cut, usually due to claims of budget restraints.
Under-performing students
Schools get punish if they don’t make their goals and this encourages them to set lower standards they are more easily achieved. Some schools have gone so far as to push poor (performance, not money) students out of school altogether & used ‘creative accounting’ to reclassify dropouts so it doesn’t affect their numbers. This is similar to when your unemployment benefits run out you don’t count as ‘unemployed’ anymore regardless of if you’ve found work or not. Any system can be gamed & this is no exception.
I also think the ‘special needs’ kids get shortchanged. Limited resources mean instead of remedial classes & special attention, these kids get ‘mainstreamed’ along with the other students which does a disservice to both. There’s student equivalent to the Americans With Disabilities Act that I think is in conflict with NCLB, at least in spirit.
There’s an autistic kid who pretty much just does his own thing, whether he’s drawing on the board, playing in the corner, or just sitting at his desk with his head down. He also has a habit of swiping other kids pencils & hoarding them. When we do groups & I can get him to focus he does fine. He’s actually really bright – so bright in fact that I think he knows he’s ‘special’ & can get away with acting up. Since I’m a parent & not a teacher he listens a little better to me. Maybe he knows I know what he knows…
There’s another boy who barely reads. It doesn’t help that the other kids make fun of him either. When we’re doing groups I try to spend any extra time at the end with him, but we only get 12 to 15 minutes per group. He sees somebody a couple of times a week, but what he really needs is a remedial reading class & more personal attention than he can get in a class of 25.
Gifted students
I guess you could say that gifted students, by definition, are doing just fine & shouldn’t be a priority. As a parent & former gifted student myself, I have to disagree. This is the part that I say keeps kids from succeeding. There’s only so much money in the budget & after you fund the (gutted) core curriculum & the required ‘special needs’ resources, what’s left for gifted programs, let alone art & music? The NCLB doesn’t speak to gifted students but some states (such as Arizona) have state requirements they have to abide by.
This year is the last for the Imagitoruim, a traveling arts program that was equal parts museum & hands-on art clinic. I volunteered for that too & even I learned something. Due to budget cuts (sense a pattern yet?), this will be the last year the district will be doing it. They used to have a technology equivalent (Techitorium?) but that was cut from the budget a few years ago.
Federal funding & 100% compliance
NCLB requires 100% compliance, but this is frankly unattainable. There will always be disabled, ESL (English as a second language) & other ‘special needs’ kids which means if you hold all students to the same standard it either has to be so low that everyone can reach it or you have to exclude those students that can’t.
Of course state NCLB isn’t mandatory unless you want federal funding. Just like speed limits & drinking age, states are free to do what they want but they don’t get any money unless they do what they’re told. Money is always in short supply, so schools can’t afford not to play along. Sounds kind of like extortion, except its legal.
My daughter’s school is no different. I’ve come to expect a ‘please donate’ list with things Kleenex & hand sanitizer at the beginning of each year, but now I get to see it from the inside. When I have to make photocopies, I have to take paper with me. Each teacher is responsible for their own paper & a shared pool among the other teachers of that grade. The school provides some ‘written on one side but feel free to use the blank side’ recycled paper. At work we get paper by the pallet so I can’t see how a school district couldn’t get a good deal on a truckload at a time.
Arizona schools aren’t too bad compared to some across the nation. A big deal was made when the Obama opted to send his girls to private school while opposing school choice & vouchers. I was struck by another little factoid. I may have some of the details wrong (if so please correct me in the comments), but the way I understand it, its going to cost $30k each for the girls to go to the private school. I don’t have a problem with that, in fact I feel a little guilty that I can’t afford to send my daughter to private school myself so I applaud the choice. The part that bothers me is that I read somewhere that Chicago public schools spend $25k per student & are failing. That tells me that something is very wrong when a system is hemorrhaging money like that.
Bottom line
More important than what the schools are doing right or wrong is what are you, as a parent, doing about your child’s education? I know that its hard with both parents working & all, but trust me, you can make the time to get involved, even if its just spending 20 minutes going over homework in the evening. I’m a fulltime single Dad who works fulltime & I make it work. I had to make some changes, most notably working night shift, but still find time to volunteer at school, check homework, chaperone fieldtrips & whatever I can. Home schooling is great if you can pull it off & your state allows you to (I’m looking at you California!) but even if you can’t, there are lots of great resources you can use to supplement what they teach in that ‘Gubmint school’.
Posted by dadreckoning 
Dad Reckoning 