NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND:NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND:WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION ARE WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION ARE AMERICA’S CHILDREN GETTING?AMERICA’S CHILDREN GETTING?

Amber Ellison Warren York III

W200 26757 April 19, 2009

Find Out

MenuMenuI. What is No Child Left Behind?

II. Standardized Testing

III. A Teacher’s VoiceIV. Conclusion

What is No Child Left Behind?

Reference

(2004, July 1). Four Pillars of NCLB. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from ED.gov Web site:

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/4pillars.html

• A 2001 Act signed by President George Bush.

•It was enacted to hold schools accountable in making sure that all students succeed.

•Students’ success is measured through standardized test scores.

•Schools that don’t meet state standards are asked to provide additional services to students such as free tutoring.

•If “poor performing” schools don’t meet state standards and progress after five years they may lose staff, funding, and undergo other big changes.

What is No Child Left Behind?

Reference

•Under this act communities have the freedom to put education-related government funding where they see fit without getting government approval.

•Schools operating in this manner allows for scientific research to be conducted on what education programs are effective.

•After at least two consecutive years of not meeting state standards, parents in such “poor performing” districts are allowed to transfer their children to a better performing public school.

•Transportation is made available to transfer students.

•Students of low-income families that attend a school that doesn’t meet state standards for at least three consecutive years can receive additional educational services.

Reference

(2004, July 1). Four Pillars of NCLB. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from ED.gov Web site:

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/4pillars.html

Response

•The intentions of the No Child Left Behind act are good. Schools must be held accountable for student’s scholastic achievement. Teachers must at least try to reach all their students and ensure their success.

•However, using standardized tests and threats to achieve this is wrong and ineffective. This does not work because it instills fear in teachers and causes them to often tell students exactly what will be on the test and/or give them the answers during such tests.

•That is not learning! Children are not developing their minds. They are simply memorizing. This leads to a dead end society of citizens that have the intellectual abilities of a robot. All they will be able to do is put information in and spit it back out. They will not be able to think critically and deeply. This is awful!

Reference

Pollard, J. (2002). Measuring What Matters Least. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from StandardizedTesting.net Website:https://oncourse.iu

.edu/portal/site/SP09-IN- EDUCW20026757/page/03c 6b01b-76cf-469e-805a-

26643a13f63e

Standardized Testing•Standardized tests were once used to determine a student’s class placement or need for assistance.

•Now they are used as a way to judge students, teachers, and schools.

•Children are tested now more than ever and the main focus of education is test scores.

•Politics has led to the current focus on test scores. Politicians use test scores as an easy way to make it seem like they care about education.

•Kohn argues that standardized tests do not measure intelligence and ability, but test-taking skills.

Standardized Testing

Reference

•Kohn believes these tests are inaccurate because they are created by humans. Humans are bound to make confusing and biased tests.

•Test scores are correlated to a student’s cultural capital. The more one has, the more likely one will score high on such tests. This is supported by research that has found that a student’s home life is what effects his or her score not his or her classroom teachings.

•Standardized tests measure mostly short-term memory and a surface level of reasoning. They do not test enough of a student’s critical thinking abilities and metacognition.

Reference

Pollard, J. (2002). Measuring What Matters Least. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from StandardizedTesting.net Website:https://oncourse.iu

.edu/portal/site/SP09-IN- EDUCW20026757/page/03c 6b01b-76cf-469e-805a-

26643a13f63e

Response•I hate standardized testing! I think it is completely stupid and should end!

•It is unbelievable to me that an impoverished student with a disability would be expected to pass the same test given to an upper-class student of average intelligence. Such students will inevitably fail!

•I also can’t believe that students are taking ISTEP exams TWICE a year now.

•The lower and lower test scores get, the more and more standardized testing there is. How can politicians possibly think that the answer to low test scores is more testing? If I were an elementary school student I would just give up and die. Here lies Amber Ellison. She just couldn’t fill in another circle.

A Teacher’s Voice

Reference

Hobart, S. J. (2008, August). One Teacher’s Cry: Why I Hate No Child Left Behind. The Progressive, 72, Retrieved April 20, 2009, from http://www.progressive.org/mag/hobart0808.html

•According to Susan J. Hobart, an elementary school teacher for eleven years, heavy standardized testing leads to lesson plans that don’t focus on students’ lives and critical thinking.

•Instead, lesson plans focus on test-taking skills and strategies.

•Hobart knows that such heavy test-taking is supposed to lead to higher student achievement.

•However, Hobart believes that these tests do not effectively measure the achievement of various students.

•Every single student is given the same test, despite socioeconomic status, level of English proficiency, and possible disabilities.

A Teacher’s Voice

Reference

•Hobart sees these tests as only one measure of student achievement.

•It is ridiculous to her that these tests are the only way the Department of Education measures schools’ performance.

•Hobart sees standardized tests as something that labels schools and students as good or bad.

•She believes that the answer to ensuring student success is not punishing schools, but addressing the economic and social problems that students face.

•Although the enactment of No Child Left Behind has given Hobart some frustration and cynicism, she still has a passion for teaching.

Reference

Hobart, S. J. (2008, August). One Teacher’s Cry: Why I Hate

No Child Left Behind. The Progressive, 72, Retrieved April 20, 2009, from

http://www.progressive.org/mag/hobart0808.html

Response• I agree 100% with Hobart that this is an ineffective way to test achievement from students of various backgrounds. I also agree 100% with her that the economic and social issues are what need to be dealt with here, not the student’s school.

•Hobart’s experiences are what make me not want to be a teacher. I want to teach what I want to teach and not have the government breathing down my neck. I want to teach my students invaluable skills not memorization.

•Teachers are already expected to do so much without the burden of ensuring one’s students pass a test. After taking education classes I believe that teaching is not the easy profession that it is believed to be. It is very difficult, with pressure coming at one from every direction. I’m not sure if I have it in me to handle such pressure.

Conclusion•No Child Left Behind has good intentions but poor methods to accomplish those intentions.

•Standardized testing is bad. It leads to the judgment of teachers, students, and schools. It is also poorly designed by stupid humans that think one test is efficient at testing the abilities of those of all intelligences, socioeconomic statuses, levels of English proficiency, and possible disabilities.

•There is currently too much emphasis on test scores and in correlation too much testing. Teachers cannot teach effectively when under such strict guidelines and with so much pressure. Students are already stretched too thin between school, extracurricular activities, and depending on the age, work. It isn’t humanly possible in 24 hours a day and seven days a week for a child to get straight A’s, be an all-star athlete, be the right weight, and be of sound mind. One of these areas will suffer with the way things currently are for students. This should not be. The pressure on America’s children needs to stop! Kids need to be kids! They deserve time to recuperate and relax.