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Wednesday, July 23, 2008 5:12 PM
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The headline has to discourage any supporter of the public schools: "Only 10 Rowan schools pass on latest federal testing report."
And it's not just the Rowan-Salisbury School System. In Kannapolis, only three of eight schools made "adequate yearly progress," the catchphrase adopted by the federal No Child Left Behind accountability program. Four out of every five Cabarrus County schools didn't pass.
But should we be discouraged? No, confused is more appropriate. And angry if you really think about it.
Residents are justifiably confused to see the federal report card when just a few days earlier, local school officials released end-of-grade math test results that showed proficiency ratings up in grades 3-5, 7 and 8.
This past year, school officials say, 65.7 percent of the students in the combined elementary grades passed the final math quiz.
So how did we really fail?
Federal officials raised the bar for their latest report card, now requiring at least 77.2 percent of students to show they are "proficient."
This includes a variety of "subgroups" of students, including those with mental disabilities and others who don't speak English as their primary language.
No one argues that the public schools should do their very best to help these students, but should schools get a passing or failing grade based on those students' scores?
Even though the Bush administration and Congress hatched this entire new testing program, our federal leaders have never come through with the extra money local school systems need to hire extra teachers and tutors to work with the students having the hardest time.
Oops! No, America is too busy right now spending billions on the war and rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan while cutting taxes for America's richest citizens, the ones whose children most likely attend private schools.
Further complicating matters, NCLB adds another layer of federal oversight and assessment to the separate accountability system that N.C. lawmakers already had in place before we ever heard of No Child Left Behind. We haven't even seen those results for this year, which, when they're published, will only confuse us again with a different set of standards and more educational lingo.
Yes, we do need to hold our schools accountable. Educators aren't arguing that point. Most who go into this profession want to help all children and see them succeed.
But we don't need multiple layers of accountability, which amount to more needless bureaucracy. And schools shouldn't have to answer to unreasonable demands without reasonable resources.
NCLB sets a worthy goal in mandating that schools help all students meet their maximum achievement levels, but rather than inspiring educators and boosting public confidence in our schools, the moving-target testing regimen too often demoralizes teachers, confuses the public and stigmatizes entire systems. As it considers reauthorization of the law, Congress should aim for reforms that maintain high standards but give schools more resources and more flexibility. Otherwise, NCLB deserves an "F" for failing to support the educational partnership it promised.
Comments (8)
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: Monday, July 28, 2008 2:35 PM
Remove the lower 10%? How are you going to replace them with a teacher shortage? And who's to say they didn't get all the bad apples in their classrooms? Don't bite into that apple, you'll get a can of worms! (And lawsuits to boot.) I think the system tends to purge itself over time with yearly reviews and proactive principals anyway. NCLB might not be a bad idea. It's unfortunate that it's an unfunded mandate!
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retired citizen
Yes, parents share blame : Friday, July 25, 2008 10:44 PM
However, it is difficult to change the parents that the students have. Former teacher has a point. Why do we allow poor teachers to keep their job? Will you answer that one? Wouldn't we be better off to replace the few bad apples teaching in the class room? Why not try that approach? When has it been tried before? Not in my lifetime, and I'm no spring chicken!
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Former Teacher
: Friday, July 25, 2008 11:02 AM
"Until all parents do their part, we will continue to get what we've gotten." Two comments - 1 - parents do need to do their part, but the school system does not control parents. 2 - if we don't do some things differetenly, yes, we will continue to get the same inadequate results. That is why I say bring on the testing for the teachers. If I were still teaching, I would not fear the tests!! Why do you? We all know that some teachers are poor performers. Why do we keep them? About 10% are great teachers, about 80% are average teachers, and about 10% should be fired. Why do you disagree with this if you sant to improve education? Every teacher knows poor teachers that should be dismissed. (Well, the union officials always disagree). Why is everyone afraid to discuss removing poor performing teachers?
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Agree with current teacher.... : Friday, July 25, 2008 6:19 AM
......the parents are the ones who need testing. Remember the old saying: "Do you know where your child is?" (mentally, physcologically, physically, behavoirially, ethically, morally, etc., etc.)
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Current Teacher
Response to Retired Teacher : Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:50 PM
You can say test the teachers because you're no longer teaching! The stakes are higher for current teachers. What you got away with is no longer allowed. I generally go beyond the call of duty for my students but some are still not performing as I would like. I have implemented different strategies and multiple intelligences and still, some students aren't performing. Let's face reality some students will always be left behind. Until all parents do their part, we will continue to get what we've gotten. Don't always blame the teachers when things go wrong. Let's look at the whole picture. Parents need to do their job!
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Trying hard
Good Point : Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:28 PM
Amen to the editorial. Schools are making progress. Our GI generation had only a 15% graduation rate!
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Former teacher
Test The Teachers : Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:23 PM
"NCLB sets a worthy goal in mandating that schools help all students meet their maximum achievement levels, but rather than inspiring educators and boosting public confidence in our schools, the moving-target testing regimen too often demoralizes teachers, confuses the public and stigmatizes entire systems." Would you have liked it better if NCLB SUDDENLY increased the benchmarks to be met? Be sysmatically increasing the becnhmarks, school systems have time to improve the quality of education and meet the new and higher benchmarks. The big problem that has not been addressed is removing the bottom 10% of teachers that are poor performers. Ever heard of the bell curve? About 10% of teachers are excellent performers and do an outstanding job teaching. About 80% are good teachers and do an average and adequate job. About 10% are poor teachers and need to move on to something else. One could make the case for remedial work to bring the poor teachers up to standard - say within 6 to 9 months - and if still not up to standard, fire them. I don't think this has ever been tried in education. What we are doing now is working poorly. It is time for a change in the way we do things. Test the teachers!!!
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Know the facts before you print . . . : Thursday, July 24, 2008 7:56 AM
The NCLB Act had its origin during the middle of the 1960’s. The United States during this time led the world with new ideas, inventions and technological advances. The educational system in the United States was superior to any other country on the face of the earth. First of all, schools that were comprised of mostly African American students were being neglected and deprived of vital educational resources. Secondly, the achievement gap between the have’s and the have not’s was astronomical. In other words, students that attended schools in more influential areas, scored higher on achievement test than students in less influential areas. 1965 a new act was passed by legislation called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ESEA was mainly directed at narrowing the achievement gap among blacks and whites and between the rich and the poor. Title 1 of the ESEA is the largest source of federal income for public education facilities. No Child Left Behind builds upon education reform efforts that were started during the Clinton Administration with the passage of Goals 2000 and the Improving America's Schools Act in 1994. President Bush revised Clinton’s school improvement act. Bush proposed a bill that would help ensure that all students no matter of their socio-economic level, culture, or race would receive the same educational resources as other students. The NCLB Act is comprised of two main categories. The first area covers the issue of adequate yearly progress (AYP). Every state and school district is responsible for ensuring that students meet state standards for proficiency in reading and math by 2014. Schools must use data to ensure that every group of students are making adequate progress. Several school districts are in an uproar over the new laws. In 2005 the State Department of Connecticut filed a lawsuit against the federal government. The state legislatures believe that NCLB will set up schools to fail rather than succeed. NCLB mandates teacher quality. Therefore, the Federal Government over time has spoon fed bits and pieces of NCLB; not the Bush administration. They tried bits and pieces and found they didn't result in the objectives they were trying for so they tweaked it here and there. So far, it still does not work because all students can not learn at the same level of proficiency. What can be done is educate each child as an individual with individual abilities with no limits to their achievements which will be soley the individuals. Remember education is wonderful, but it is up to the individual what they can and choose to do with that which is being taught. An ideal world (Utopia) would be able to operate NCLB with 100% effectiveness and 100% positive results. Alas, we live in a real society where it is impossible to achieve these goals. Our children are not robots with computer chips for brains. They are living, breathing, fallible human beings with individual needs, characteristics, and traits. The education system of today has lost it's common sense and when they get it back all will benefit from it's return.
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