No Child Left anywhere?

Question

Bill Bennett and Rod Paige on national standards and tests!

Former Education Secretaries Bill Bennett and Rod Paige weigh in on national standards and testing in the September 21 Washington Post:

Forty years ago the sociologist James S. Coleman made clear that there's no reliable connection between the resources going into a school and the learning that comes out. Fifty years ago economist Milton Friedman made clear that in education, as in other spheres, monopolies don't work as well as markets. That's why most Republicans and some Democrats favor school choice in its myriad versions and why many, like us, have also embraced today's other important education reform strategy: standards, testing and tough accountability for schools.

But there's a problem. Out of respect for federalism and mistrust of Washington, much of the GOP has expected individual states to set their own academic standards and devise their own tests and accountability systems. That was the approach of the No Child Left Behind Act -- which moved as boldly as it could while still achieving bipartisan support. It sounds good, but it is working badly. A new Fordham Foundation report shows that most states have deployed mediocre standards, and there's increasing evidence that some are playing games with their tests and accountability systems....

The remedy? As both of us have long argued, Washington should set sound national academic standards and administer a high-quality national test. Publicize everybody's results, right down to the school level. Then Washington should butt out.

Read the entire Post op-ed here.

This week on The Education Gadfly Show: An artful brouhaha

Answer 1

While the idea of No CHild Left Behind is a noble sentiment, the whole plan has done far more harm to the school systems of this country than good. By tying funding into increased test scores, our government has forced our schools to go from educating our children to teaching them to test. As funds have shrunk, the available monies are used more and more to puch up the all important math and reading scores. The result is that while our kids are getting a lot of math (some schools have up to 180 minutes of math a day at the elementary levels) and reading, they are getting little else. Science, social studies and history have all become once a week subjects. Art and music have long since departed and even the much needed phys ed classes are slowly being cut to the bare minimum. Recess has gone from that time after lunch when the kids could run and play to being all but gone.

So parents have started to fight for the choice of public schools or for voucher programs. Both of these programs take more funds out of the already decimated budgets. Parents want their kids (rightly) to have the best education the system can offer. When the system fails we expect to have other choices, but now we expect them to be paid for. That is all well and good, but you can't ask for lower taxes along with more services...we all know the dollars in our budget don't go that way.

Finally,take a good look at all the school systems we want the US to be like, such as Japan. In Japan, parents pay to send children to public schools. Throughout the elementary years, they provide uniforms, supplies, activity fees as well as educational fees. Once kids hit middle school (our early HS), the students must test to gain access to the public schools. Students can attend any school that their scores qualify them for. Once HS comes (this would include what we would consider a freshman year of college) nearly on third of students elect to leave the educational system for a job, vocational training, etc. In Japan, there are no options,...scores are coming from kids who go to school 6 days a week, with several hours of tutoring afterwards. The best of the best make the cut for high school and college and if you don't make it, you don't go. College as an adult is unheard of. Even your choice of college majors is decided by how you score on placement exams! Is this really what we want our kids to become?

It is time to give the classrooms back to those who know best...the teachers. Give them the money and the materials to teach. Have options in place for kids who excel and for kids who need help. Stop comparing our country and our educational goals to the rest of the world. And most of all, be willing to put your $$ where your mouth is. Stop voiting for tax cuts that cut into our teachers pockets, donate your time to the school and help find new ways to bring in more revenue through fundraising when needed. Show the world, and our government, that we truely want our kids to be the best they can.

Answer 2

Yes Ann. Don't forget to mention that in public school everybody has a right to come. Elementary classrooms contain between 20 and 25 children in my town. In each class children come with various differences that disrupt the educational process. Sometimes psychological and behavioural problems, medicial issues such as peanut allergies, and other allergies that make the job a bit scary on birthdays, Halloween, etc and are disruptive.

Not every family is a model family, and not every child comes to school with their basic needs met. Not all families value education and it is reflected, sometimes magnified in the
children.

Spending on testing seems moot. The money could go elsewhere and still have a tremendous effect on education.

Education should be left to educators, not politicians. Hire the counsellors and nurses for each school. Take a look at the school lunches...Keep the buildings in good repair.

In a school library there was a poster that said something like this: Education is a do it yourself project. Your teacher, school, books, pencils etc. are your tools. How you use them is up to you.

Education is about the children. Don't we want them to love to learn?

Do we want them stressed through expensive testing to appease politicians and statisticians?

The American Family can do the most for education and it doesn't cost money, it costs commitment, stability and love,and all the qualities it wants to instill in our children.

Our society has to change too. Countless children come to school sick because the parents fear loss of employment if they stay home with their child. (yes, the illnesses often spread through the classroom)

Re-establish and finance physical education, art, and music.
These programs enable stressed children to de-
stress and be creative.

I think the power to change the schools should be strongest at the community level, then state, last federal. You know, "We, the people....

Answer 3

What if we let our teachers actually teach our kids rather than just teaching them to pass tests? Bush is a moron.

Answer 4

Well said....

Answer 5

true

Answer 6

True, true, true...