Reflecting on Arkansas – No child left behind (NCLB)
I had heard from my safe and comfortable position in New Zealand about the “No child left behind” program in the states. I had heard too, from colleagues that this was a major problem and a concern. But isolated from direct exposure, this was of passing interest.
The reality of NCLB in schools is completely different and huge.
For students to be able to progress between grades or years they must achieve a mininum level of competency. According to the teachers I spoke to there are students in New York who will be entering the 3rd Grade for the fourth time this year.
The testing regime of NCLB is impacting on teaching and learning. Teachers, out of self defence, are teaching to the test. Teachers are scared to experiment as they are measured against standardised tests. School districts (and not the one I was in) are strictly prescribing what a teacher can teach, and these conform to the standards required for NCLB.
There is a huge industry built around the tests. Companies provide tests, administer them and mark them for huge fees. In some schools students are test on a monthly basis to see there progress towards the standardised tests.
A frequent comment we heard as we spoke about different approaches to taeching and learning with a focus on higher order thinking, student engagement and student ownership of teh learning task and process was – how can I fit this in as well, as I have to reach my benchmarks.
Standardised testing on this scale and with the huge emphasis placed on it is killing creatyivity, stifling imagination and rendering worthless what students are learning. The focus on meeting benchmarks is diverting attention from the real purpose of education – our children.
Placing mandatory standards for progression between grades is condeming the less able; those who do not learn in the prescribed read/write learning style; the kinesthetic learners; those with learning disabilities and too often boys to failure, humilation and disappointment.And for what? a pass mark in a standardised test?
Source – Scott McLeod – Dangerously irrelevant - http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/
August 20th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
It is a huge issue isn’t it – and you didn’t even get around to discussing teacher salaries and school funding being tied to the testing outcomes.
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August 21st, 2009 at 1:43 am
Thank you for spreading the word about the realities of this legislation. This one is especially troublesome.
“There is a huge industry built around the tests. Companies provide tests, administer them and mark them for huge fees. In some schools students are test on a monthly basis to see there progress towards the standardised tests.”
While the premise behind of NCLB is laudable the testing companies have taken over and have created a money making megalopoly because not only do they provide (read that sell,) administer and mark the tests, they also market test aligned curricula and student information systems to warehouse and report data. They even “rent” computer labs at extortionist rates to districts that cannot afford to invest in and maintain their own Internet connected technology. Most disturbing to me is that no one seems to be making the connections…
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