Thread: "A decade of No Child Left Behind: Lessons from a policy failure," by Valerie Strauss

Well... at least with NCLB, we now know the numbers.

ahoy Tsquare,

i don't know if yer kiddin' or not, but thats what i felt after i read them links.

i don't blame NCLB fer much, 'tis just allowed us to see the metrics 'o our educational failures and successes in this nation.

what the test results indicate to me be that black and brown people have some kinda dynamic that exists entirely outside 'o our public school system that undermines thar ability to thrive as white and asian students are able to.

them tests tell me that the problem doesn't actually even exist in the schools, but rather in the homes.

aye.

- MeadHallPirate

No Child Left Behind was a Liberal Wet Dream from the get go because it allowed the States to govern the level of achievement.
A well meant policy executed VERY badly.

Originally Posted by USCitizen

No Child Left Behind was a Liberal Wet Dream.

No Child Left Behind resembles the kind of programs passed during the 1960s and 1970s that failed at considerable expense, that reduced the trust most Americans have in the government, and which destroyed the New Coalition what had existed since Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932.

Nevertheless, NCLB was promoted by President George W. Bush. It was passed in both houses of Congress by broad, bi partisan majorities.

[QUOTE=Mandala;2086889]No Child Left Behind resembles the kind of programs passed during the 1960s and 1970s that failed at considerable expense, that reduced the trust most Americans have in the government, and which destroyed the New Coalition what had existed since Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932.

President George W. Bush...
Free Trade, Open Borders...Conservative
Spending Tax Money...Liberal

Originally Posted by USCitizen

No Child Left Behind was a Liberal Wet Dream from the get go because it allowed the States to govern the level of achievement.
A well meant policy executed VERY badly.

A stupid policy executed badly. When you have stupid ideas, don't expect to get anything but lousy results.

I grew up in New York State. We had standardized testing called the New York State Regents exams. They put all schools to the same standard much like NCLB. The difference is, at that time we had parents who were more concerned about the education their children got than they were about the sex ed they got or the status of their football team.

Teachers were there to teach and if they didn't do the job, they were sent packing. There was no union or tenure to guarantee bad teachers continued employment. Our education system has been on the decline since the 60's and NCLB had nothing to do with its demise.

Originally Posted by Mandala

The New York Times November 20, 2006

When President Bush signed his sweeping education law a year into his presidency, it set 2014 as the deadline by which schools were to close the test-score gaps between minority and white students that have persisted since standardized testing began...

Despite concerted efforts by educators, the test-score gaps are so large that, on average, African-American and Hispanic students in high school can read and do arithmetic at only the average level of whites in junior high school.

“The gaps between African-Americans and whites are showing very few signs of closing,” Michael T. Nettles, a senior vice president at the Educational Testing Service, said in a paper he presented recently at Columbia University. One ethnic minority, Asians, generally fares as well as or better than whites.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/ed...&ex=1165035600

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The Washington Post 01/07/2012

The data accumulated over 10 years make three things clear:

1) NCLB has severely damaged educational quality and equity, with its narrowing and limiting effects falling most severely on the poor.

2) NCLB failed to significantly increase average academic performance and significantly narrow achievement gaps.

3) Attempts to deal with NCLB’s severe shortcomings, such as the Obama administration’s waivers and the Senate Education Committee’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill, fail to address many of NCLB’s fundamental flaws and in some cases will intensify them. These proposals will extend a “lost decade for U.S. schools.”
A decade of No Child Left Behind: Lessons from a policy failure - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

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Why has No Child Left Behind failed? Is bridging the race gap in academic performance a realistic goal?

Well when you are bringing down the overall academic performance till it is equal rather than raising those at the bottom, I would call that failure.

Then again I call the Federal controlling education a failure in itself.

Originally Posted by 9aces

A stupid policy executed badly. When you have stupid ideas, don't expect to get anything but lousy results.

No Child Left Behind was based on the assumption that everyone can be above average. Those who believe this reveal an understanding of sixth grade arithmetic that is below average.

Originally Posted by Wlessard

Well when you are bringing down the overall academic performance till it is equal rather than raising those at the bottom, I would call that failure.

Then again I call the Federal controlling education a failure in itself.

It would not bother me if the federal government took complete responsibility for public school education. Nevertheless, any educational system needs to acknowledge that IQ differences matter. For many children "the soft bigotry of low expectations" is realistic. The only way to keep these children from falling behind is to hold the smart ones back.

Originally Posted by Mandala

No Child Left Behind was based on the assumption that everyone can be above average. Those who believe this reveal an understanding of sixth grade arithmetic that is below average.

Those are the same people who believe that Wells Fargo makes loans based only on skin color.

Originally Posted by Mandala

It would not bother me if the federal government took complete responsibility for public school education. Nevertheless, any educational system needs to acknowledge that IQ differences matter. For many children "the soft bigotry of low expectations" is realistic. The only way to keep these children from falling behind is to hold the smart ones back.

In the late 70's they had a program called Project Prism, I was part of it due to my test scores, OHIO tests and general capability. I was doing college level calculus by the time funding ran out and that was after 1 year in 6th grade. I was completing 2nd year English courses as well as advanced history and science. The rest of my school years till graduation were boring and filled with me being obstinate about doing things that the system could not handle for someone gifted and intelligent.

When I started High School I was back to algebra and weekly arguments with the teacher. English was arguments about homework that was to learn about the language though my essay homework was top of the class. History was boring and again homework was my downfall. How many years can you teach the revolution and civil war over and over again. Science was the only place I was challenged as in High School they touched on physics rather than basics for a change.

No AP classes which from what was available in a normal High School was still well below me academically. The only reason I didn't quit school was because I went to a Vo Tech rather than a traditional High School.

The System CANNOT and is NOT designed to handle intelligent kids. Not the Public Schools at least. My Nephew who scores just a hair below me on IQ, and other tests and can almost keep up with me is just as frustrated. They supply billions to help handicapped pupils and this is a good thing but they cannot figure out or seem to want to even help those who are above average.