View Topic

Thanks for the post a very information and educational
Well "nickelbee" in other words, is important in every children. Hope if i have a chance to advice,or one of presidential adviser Public Law 107-110 act of 2001 or often discuss NCLB must be the RIGHT of every (American) children.

MORE POWER
much care
jolina

Reply

If I was advising the presidential candidates, I would offer the following advice;  First, the need to update, revise, etc. NCLB is apparent to everyone, from parents to policy makers.  Thus, the candidates need to share their specific strategies to improve NCLB.  Second, I would advise them to create an initiative that supports schools becoming more creative, innovative and decentralized.  Right now we are asking education to compete in a global environment while requiring them to follow policies that are rigid, one size fits all, and frankly not very productive.  This needs to change.

Reply

Michael Bentley says:
If I were the education adviser for any of the presidential candidates, I would tell them that education deserves a higher profile in the campaign. So far, few of the candidates have taken on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind program. From my reading of numerous studies on the effects of this program, as well as of the opinions of many other experts, this law has done more harm to our schools than good. In a RAND Corp. report Klein and Hamilton write that “none of the large-scale national achievement tests currently in use can be employed to monitor individual student progress or to evaluate the effectiveness of particular schools, districts, or educational programs.” Yet in spite of this, such data are used to make decisions with major consequences to kids, such as whether or not their schools meet the “adequate yearly progress” requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act. Students can only start where they are and move forward; they can’t work miracles, and neither can schools. Success must be defined in terms of growth and must be disconnected from age-based comparisons and expectations. In my own state of Virginia, our 'Standards of Learning', for example, prescribe way too much content, making teachers technicians whose task is to 'cover' it all. This deskills teachers' their professionalism as enacters of curriculum. The "Standards" fragment and attempt to deal separately with concepts, approaches, skills, and understandings that could and should be dealt with in an integrated fashion. NCLB has resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum, and at a time when we should be promoting a diversity of curricula to match student needs and local school situations. In fact, the current régime of standards and high-stakes testing undermines the power of local communities to choose their own policies and programs and decide what is important and frustrates and inhibits good teachers. Many teachers end up teaching only what they know is going to be tested. The current régime also marginalizes many at-risk students and fails to recognize their unique curricular needs, resulting in high drop-out rates. Students are being pushed out of school, the curriculum and teaching are narrowed, and school experiences are severely limited by the unintended consequences of targeting school curriculum toward high-stakes assessments.

According to Gerald Bracey, an expert on testing and statistics, there is no evidence that NCLB has produced any meaningful increase in achievement (as opposed to higher test scores). Standards and testing, with very rare exceptions, are not improving failing public schools, the schools most likely to be located in inner cities and rural areas. Overall, our urban and rural schools have more of the things that decrease school quality and less of the things that enrich it: more teachers who are uncertified in the subjects they teach; more crowded classes; less money for payrolls, training, materials and facilities. In short, we have never adequately invested in the people, programs or equipment necessary to improve our urban and rural schools. And, of course, NCLB is an unfunded mandate. So, I would urge the candidates to speak out against a reauthorization of this law. I would also remind them that the Constitution leaves educational matters for the states to determine.

Reply

Services.  Federal requirements obligate us to provide many services in schools that are not reimbursed by the government. special education often is one third of a community's school budget.  In order to better serve student preparation for living, social competence, health, and critical thinking, as a nation we need to ask the question again "What do we expect from our schools.?"

We lack flexibility of planning, forethought, and compassion and are locked in a century old model of how to teach.

Mr. future President, How would you fund schools to be the community resources they need to be?

Reply

Thanks for your thoughts on this issue. Candidates currently seem to be stuck in this "safe zone" for what is acceptable to talk about while they hold onto their bid for president, while the real issues--like those posed above-- are being glossed over. It is very frustrating for those of us who truly care about education.

Reply

There is no question that candidates are stuck in the "safe zone" and not really addressing the major issues we face in education.  On the Democratic side, Sen Clinton has strong support from NEA and AFT, and thus I doubt she will do anything of any value, change-wise.  Sen Obama has actually been quite open about the need for change, but I suspect until the primaries are over he isn't going to say alot.  On the Republican side, Sen. McCain is a strong supporter of vouchers in schools and a fairly radical approach, but he too has not been all that clear.
 
I just don't understand why education doesn't have a stronger profile as an issue.  Hopefully this will change as the campaigns go on.....

Reply

I agree - it is very strange that education doesn't have any traction in the current presidential race. Margaret Spellings continues to promote NCLB, tweaking it here and there but basically saying it is near perfect legislation, when, in fact, it has been a disaster. I was for Edwards, now supporting Obama. HRC has too much baggage with Bill being one of the foremost supporters of NCLB.  MB

Reply

I really wonder why education is not getting any more traction, especially since the Gates and Broad Foundations are funding a multi-million dollar effort to make sure education is at the top of the agenda.  I suspect the economy is a major reason why education is a second-tier issue but of course we all know education is tied to the economy.
 
I also suspect that none of them know what to do about NCLB- it is such a political hot potato (or is that potatoe!).

Reply