Utah snubs "No Child Left Behind"

[Blackadar]

hxxp://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/05/03/no.child.left.behind.ap/index.html

I find it very interesting that the most Republican state has decided that this isn't the way to go.

I'm not a big fan of "No Child". The intent is good, the execution is poor. My wife has been a teacher for 12 years - 5 as a 1st Grade teacher and 7 as an Elementary Art teacher - and this Act has caused a lot of problems. She finally quit the school system last year and retired.

A large part of the school year seems to be taken up with "teaching the test" rather than core subjects to keep test scores up. There's been administrative cheating on tests to do the same. Even though she has experience and is a certified teacher, she couldn't take a 1st grade elementary position, even when asked by the administration, because she's not technically certified as an elementary teacher. She's a certified art teacher with experience in private schools as a 1st grade teacher. She would have had to go back to school for her Masters' degree, which is pretty absurd as she was nominated for Teacher of the Year.

Oh well. Good for Utah. UPASS is a better system anyway - measuring the same students over time as they progress through the system, not each incoming batch of students against each other.

[st.cronin]

I don't really understand NCLB but wasn't it written by Teddy Kennedy? I know Bush got behind it pretty hard, but I thought it was (originally) a Dem issue.

[Ben E Lou]

I don't really understand NCLB but wasn't it written by Teddy Kennedy? I know Bush got behind it pretty hard, but I thought it was (originally) a Dem issue.Unholy alliance of Dubya and Kennedy. I've yet to talk with an educator who likes it. Actually, the only people I've ever talked with a strong positive opinion of it have that opinion for completely selfish reasons: they wanted their kid to transfer to a different high school for sports without losing eligibility, but didn't want to have to move.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've yet to talk with an educator who likes it.

Well, that's a selling point in & of itself AFAIC.

Actually, the only people I've ever talked with a strong positive opinion of it have that opinion for completely selfish reasons

{raises hand}

Well, you can change that now. Of all places, if anywhere should support NCLBA, it's Georgia. It's pretty much the only hope public education in this state seems to have. Virtually anything would be an improvement over what we have right now.

[Ben E Lou]

Well, you can change that now. Of all places, if anywhere should support NCLBA, it's Georgia. It's pretty much the only hope public education in this state seems to have. Virtually anything would be an improvement over what we have right now.I know you believe that local control has failed here, but I'm not sure how larger-scale control is going to be better, considering the amazingly-large differences in demographics, needs, etc. from one district to the next. Ultimately, I think you'll find the roots of Georgia's low test scores can be found in slavery/reconstruction/sharecropping/etc. The residual effects are still there in a lot of places.

[Crapshoot]

Well, that's a selling point in & of itself AFAIC.



{raises hand}

Well, you can change that now. Of all places, if anywhere should support NCLBA, it's Georgia. It's pretty much the only hope public education in this state seems to have. Virtually anything would be an improvement over what we have right now.

Is Education In Georgia that bad ? I know you're in favor of the federal mandate over states rights here, but is the base system that badly performing ? Genuinely curious.

[TRO]

My wife might decide to go teach in Utah now, interesting.

[Blackadar]

Well, that's a selling point in & of itself AFAIC.



:rolleyes:

[JonInMiddleGA]

Is Education In Georgia that bad ? I know you're in favor of the federal mandate over states rights here, but is the base system that badly performing ? Genuinely curious.

All you have to do is look at virtually every measuring stick out there to see what an abysmal failure public education is in Georgia.

I'm not going to provide any links, not to be difficult or uncooperative, but rather because I don't want to be accused (by anyone, not you) of cherry-picking what serves my purpose. There's no shortage of data out there to look out, you can pretty much pick a random sampling & see what I mean.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I know you believe that local control has failed here, but I'm not sure how larger-scale control is going to be better, considering the amazingly-large differences in demographics, needs, etc. from one district to the next. Ultimately, I think you'll find the roots of Georgia's low test scores can be found in slavery/reconstruction/sharecropping/etc. The residual effects are still there in a lot of places.

Interesting observation, but I'm not sure what context you're putting it in. Depending upon interpretation, that's either a match for what the c.w. seems to be among both black & white in this part of the state OR it's 180 degrees from it.

Even I'm not convinced that larger-scale control will bring, to borrow a phrase, adequate yearly progress. What I _do_ know is that what passes for local control has failed in this state, miserably so.

As for the socio-economic differences, if I had to put that in a nutshell, I'd say it's ultimately irrelevant. Appropriate curriculum is appropriate curriculum, and successful completion of that is not relative, it's absolute. I'm not arguing any method over another, I'm interested only in the results. Unfortunately, the results are too often quickly dismissed by people who stand to gain most from doing so, people whose primary interest lies in saving their own skins, educating children be damned.

[Tigercat]

If you want to get down to NCLB's roots, its the Contract with America. It was basically taking the funding meant for one thing, Title I funding meant to give "high risk" student populations an extra jump start with federal funding, and using the presence of that specific funding to push a specific agenda, uniform curriculum throughout individual states and set periodic testing. Forcing this agenda through Title I funding was first given to us via the Federal Government in 1994. Thats not to say the agenda of testing and curriculum isn't a good one, just that the way it has been pushed upon states by the Federal Government was a little messed up. Of course by the time Bush got into office NCLB became its own animal, even though the not so hidden threat of noncompliance is to lose your Title I funding.

The big complaint is that NCLB was never properly funded, which I find hard to argue against. Last I saw, only 3 million dollars is new additional funding tied into NCLB that isn't just Title I money used as a threat. That 3 million is meant to help schools crawl out of the failing to meet adequate progress category.

And don't get me started on how the Federal government insists on uniform curriculum and testing for individual states but for some odd reason don't feel that nation-wide curriculum is a good idea. Stating that each state has individual achievement levels and such, this in spite of the fact that NAEP scores, the only decent measure of nationwide achievement over the decades, has shown that even between states that one would think would have very different academic levels of students, that mean scores for students are not THAT different. And this before and after individual states instituted state wide testing and curriculum.

As far as Utah snubbing NCLB, someone was bound to do it eventually. Conneticutt and other states that put a lot of money locally and state wide into education and don't have a lot of Title I funds have considered it before. I am a little surprised Utah would be the first to pull the trigger, however.

[Ben E Lou]

Interesting observation, but I'm not sure what context you're putting it in. Depending upon interpretation, that's either a match for what the c.w. seems to be among both black & white in this part of the state OR it's 180 degrees from it. c.w.?

[JonInMiddleGA]

c.w.?

Conventional Wisdom.

[Tigercat]

And I am with SkyDog in that I think some of our biggest educational problems are connected to cultural problems that can not be so easily addressed.

Maybe, with a bigger gun to the head of the school, the school will do a better job of drilling facts students need for these tests before they take these tests, and therefore the adequate progress will be made. But will poor rural and urban students care anymore than before or be any more equiped than before to retain this knowledge? Just because the schools will be under the gun for showing the kids can show specific knowledge at specific points in time?

I tell you what, if a kid doesn't have an able and/or concerned adult to encourage his/her intellictual development, its gonna be a tough journey no matter how many tests you make his school put in front of him.

We have been shown through so many studies time and time again that one of the biggest indications of student success throughout a school is parent involvement in the schooling of the children. (Which is often connected on an individual level to mother's level of educational achievement.) How many of the most problematic rural and urban schools have parents that can't or won't do anything more than tell their kid to get on that bus and depend on the school to fully motivate that child? It sure as hell isn't a hole that can be patched with any amounts of tests.

[MacroGuru]

My wife might decide to go teach in Utah now, interesting.
Trust me, she doesn't want to teach here. The pay sucks, and you will receive drastic culture shock when you arrive. I was born here, and when I spent a couple of years in Memphis and came back, it was culture shock.

The main reason that Utah bagged the NCLB was financial. At least it's what I have heard being bandied about on the news around here.

[Ben E Lou]

And I am with SkyDog in that I think some of our biggest educational problems are connected to cultural problems that can not be so easily addressed.

Maybe, with a bigger gun to the head of the school, the school will do a better job of drilling facts students need for these tests before they take these tests, and therefore the adequate progress will be made. But will poor rural and urban students care anymore than before or be any more equiped than before to retain this knowledge? Just because the schools will be under the gun for showing the kids can show specific knowledge at specific points in time?

I tell you what, if a kid doesn't have an able and/or concerned adult to encourage his/her intellictual development, its gonna be a tough journey no matter how many tests you make his school put in front of him.

We have been shown through so many studies time and time again that one of the biggest indications of student success throughout a school is parent involvement in the schooling of the children. (Which is often connected on an individual level to mother's level of educational achievement.) How many of the most problematic rural and urban schools have parents that can't or won't do anything more than tell their kid to get on that bus and depend on the school to fully motivate that child? It sure as hell isn't a hole that can be patched with any amounts of tests.Bingo. I also have read that further studies have detailed it even further: the common thread with kids who were successful who did NOT have parental involving is that a huge majority of them had another adult who was consistently involved in their lives.

I know I'm cynical, but I'm firmly in the camp that attempts by the body politic to "fix" education are ultimately just vote-buying schemes. I think they know better.

[st.cronin]

Part of the problem with 'fixing' education is that nobody can really tell you what's WRONG with education. There are too many competing theories.

[Klinglerware]

As far as Utah snubbing NCLB, someone was bound to do it eventually. Conneticutt and other states that put a lot of money locally and state wide into education and don't have a lot of Title I funds have considered it before. I am a little surprised Utah would be the first to pull the trigger, however.

A significant point -- Affluent northeastern states like Connecticut are able to pour a lot of money into education (something like $12,000 per student), while other states like Georgia don't or can't as much (about 8 or 9 K per student). This translates in the end to better average scores on SATs and things like that.

The irony here is that the states that are best able to handle the strictures of NCLB are the states that need federal support the least, since they are already spending a lot of state money on education...

[wade moore]

I'm just going to nit-pick for a second about blackie's concerns...


Even though she has experience and is a certified teacher...

conflicts with this:

because she's not technically certified as an elementary teacher


My fiance is a certified teacher getting her master's now and what you're saying her confuses me... how can she be certified but not? Not sure this directly relates to NCLB, but requiring teachers to be certified seems like an overall good concept in my book...

[Celeval]

IMHO, the biggest problem with education of students is the lack of involvement by the parents. Which isn't going to be fixed by federal (or local or whatever) funding.

[Celeval]

My fiance is a certified teacher getting her master's now and what you're saying her confuses me... how can she be certified but not? Not sure this directly relates to NCLB, but requiring teachers to be certified seems like an overall good concept in my book...
My wife has a masters degree in Reading Education. She's certified to teach a specific set of grades and subjects... Science, Reading, Language Arts between (I think) grades 5-8.

She does not currently have the certification necessary to teach elementary education.

My mother has been teaching 8th grade in a private school for well over 20 years, and has won a handful of state and national awards for doing so. She teaches nearly all subjects to 8th graders, and language arts/literature to 6th, 7th 8th. She does not have a masters degree. If she was to try and move to a private school; she would not be able to teach the same subjects she is now without a masters degree and associated certification (I believe).

There are plusses to certification and requirement for graduate school, but it's also very limiting to teachers who have been in the workforce for a long time.

[wade moore]

Ok, I see your point with the grades, it's the same way in VA... but at the same time... what training has your wife had to teach seniors in High School? 1st Graders? They are very different beasts...

As for the master's degree.. I'm not sure if you mistyped, but you are saying that to move to a private school she would need a master's... that has nothing to do with any government standards, that is because Private Schools can hold whatever standards they want.. I think you have to throw a lot of Private School stuff out of these conversations...

[FWIW, my fiance is doing Reading Education too for k-6...]

[Blackadar]

I'm just going to nit-pick for a second about blackie's concerns...


conflicts with this:


My fiance is a certified teacher getting her master's now and what you're saying her confuses me... how can she be certified but not? Not sure this directly relates to NCLB, but requiring teachers to be certified seems like an overall good concept in my book...

She's certified as an art education teacher, not as an elementary teacher.

Overall, it may seem like a good concept, but it prevents good people from teaching because they don't have the right degree - at a time where some areas are desperately short of teachers. I know some people who would like to go into teaching and would likely be very good at it, but won't (in part) because they're not going to go back to school for a piece of paper that's supposed to be more important than 20 years' of work experience.

[Celeval]

As for the master's degree.. I'm not sure if you mistyped, but you are saying that to move to a private school she would need a master's... that has nothing to do with any government standards, that is because Private Schools can hold whatever standards they want.. I think you have to throw a lot of Private School stuff out of these conversations...
I did, I meant to move out of a private school (she's in one now) to a public school.

[Blackadar]

Ok, I see your point with the grades, it's the same way in VA... but at the same time... what training has your wife had to teach seniors in High School? 1st Graders? They are very different beasts...


They may be, but there's no way to "shortcut" the process, even when someone has work experience and has already demonstrated a compentency in that area. My wife taught 1st graders in a private school for 5 years and overall for 12 years in public and private schools - yet according to NCLB, she's not "qualified" to be a 1st grade teacher in a public elementary school. For a teacher with numerous awards, recommendations, praise from PTAs, etc., that's a bit insulting.

To ask her to go back to college for 2-3 years, after putting in 50+ hours a week in the classroom, is a pretty steep requirement for a job that will pay her $40k per year. It's not worth it and that's why she retired. And they wonder why there's a shortage of teachers...

In a perfect world, every teacher would be certified for their core subject area. But it's not, it's the law of supply and demand. And this law hurts the supply at a time there's more demand than ever.

[ScottVib]

She's certified as an art education teacher, not as an elementary teacher.

Overall, it may seem like a good concept, but it prevents good people from teaching because they don't have the right degree - at a time where some areas are desperately short of teachers. I know some people who would like to go into teaching and would likely be very good at it, but won't (in part) because they're not going to go back to school for a piece of paper that's supposed to be more important than 20 years' of work experience.
That's why some states have Alternate Route to Certification programs. To take well qualified people from the work force and give them the training they need to be certified to teach, without sending them through a traditional 4 year college program.

The program in CT (started in 1988) last school-year had over 300 applicants for 100 spots. In the Math program that I got into (and graduated from last week) there were 93 applicants from which they chose 18. (There is also a summer program, that kills its students (cramming a year's worth of work into a summer))

My degree is in Meteorology, without the ARC program I wouldn't be teaching. Fortunately for me CT has one and I was able to move back and get accepted. (My certification will actually be in Math 7-12, but will allow me per CT law to teach Math in a departmentalized setting from grades 5-12)

[ScottVib]

dola,

BTW in CT the same thing can happen. You don't need to be certified to teach in a Private School but if you let your certification lapse, you are subject to the new requirements to regain your certification. So if you were certified in CT before there was a specific course requirement in your area, or before the BEST program (beginning teacher's assesment they must pass before moving to the 2nd of CT's 3 tiered licensure), they must suddenly fullfill those requirements, even if they were teaching the whole time in a Private school.

[wade moore]

Confused here guys..

NCLB does NOT require you get 2-3 years of education to get certified. Sounds like you are mixing up state/locality requirements with NCLB. The reason I can say this for fact:

In VA you can teach for up to 3 years without a certification. During that time, you can take classes specifically geared towards getting your certification. I do not know the exact load of these courses, but I know they are of the nature that you can complete them in 1 summer. It is not 2-3 years more of a college education. So, if VA can do this, that means NCLB allows you to do this.

So... For blackie's situation - sounds like a locality thing if they require 2-3 more years of college to get a certification.

For Cel's situation - sounds like a locality's requirement for a master's. I know for sure that VA does not require a Master's and has MANY MANY teacher's without them. If a locality is doing that well with getting teachers and can require a Master's, I say more power to them.. but it's not because of NCLB.

I am by no means a huge defender of NCLB, but I feel it does some good things and has some good concepts behind it. In fact, I tend to agree with a previous poster who says it just has not been funded properly. I'm worried that we are blaming NCLB for many things that are not directly a result of NCLB (they could be a state/localities method of attempting to increase the qualities of their teachers to meet the requirements of NCLB, but it is not a direct requirement of NCLB).

[Blackadar]

Confused here guys..

NCLB does NOT require you get 2-3 years of education to get certified. Sounds like you are mixing up state/locality requirements with NCLB. The reason I can say this for fact:

In VA you can teach for up to 3 years without a certification. During that time, you can take classes specifically geared towards getting your certification. I do not know the exact load of these courses, but I know they are of the nature that you can complete them in 1 summer. It is not 2-3 years more of a college education. So, if VA can do this, that means NCLB allows you to do this.

So... For blackie's situation - sounds like a locality thing if they require 2-3 more years of college to get a certification.

For Cel's situation - sounds like a locality's requirement for a master's. I know for sure that VA does not require a Master's and has MANY MANY teacher's without them. If a locality is doing that well with getting teachers and can require a Master's, I say more power to them.. but it's not because of NCLB.

I am by no means a huge defender of NCLB, but I feel it does some good things and has some good concepts behind it. In fact, I tend to agree with a previous poster who says it just has not been funded properly. I'm worried that we are blaming NCLB for many things that are not directly a result of NCLB (they could be a state/localities method of attempting to increase the qualities of their teachers to meet the requirements of NCLB, but it is not a direct requirement of NCLB).

NCLB requires teachers to be state certified in that core area to teach. It is no longer permissable to have a teaching certificate in, say, reading and then teach elementary education. This had been a fairly common practice in public schools prior to NCLB. In some cases, I'm sure it wasn't a good thing and students were getting a poor education. In others examples (like my wife), it wasn't a problem. The issue with NCLB was that it handled all of these cases in a blanket fashion - primarily as a bad thing.

Within NCLB, there is a grace period for obtaining that certification. Of course, certification requirements are different in different states and NCLB requires you to be state certified for that core subject area. And you had to meet the current requirements for certification in that area. Since my wife got her degree in 1992, the courses that were essentially "transferrable" to current certification requirements were few and therefore she was looking at 2-3 years' of part-time schooling. It wasn't worth it.

Now you could blame the State for those requirements. But they were made before NCLB and therefore teachers with a teaching certificate could move from one subject area to another. It was up to the Principal and the school board to determine whether an Art Education teacher was qualified to teach 1st grade. This could be bad, this could be good.

Now, we have the NCLB requirements. They can't do this anymore. So the solution is to change the requirements for certification, right? Well, no politician wants to be seen as "weak" on education. So the requirements stay the same and good teachers drop out of the system.

[judicial clerk]

Before my dad retired, he was certified to teach every type of class in every grade K through 12 in California public education system. Apparently they used to give out some kind of super or all-encompassing credential that they no longer give out, but he and the others who held it were grandfathered in. I think there was a time when he was the only guy at the school who was certified to teach some physics or chemistry class or something.

To put this in context, my dad was a football coach and he taught PE, typing, and math for kids who couldn't add. if you showed him a diagram for hydrochloride he would probably say "What kind of screwed up defense is that?" The only time he went into physics class was to make sure there wasn't some young mand hiding in there who was 6'2" 250lbs and needed to be out on the football field.

[wade moore]

Blackie:

But the point still remains - the state is the one making it so hard to get that certification, not NCLB. NCLB is just stating that you have to follow your certification guidelines. If your state chooses to make it that difficult to get a certification, you cannot blame NCLB imo. States like VA (and CT mentioned above) make it reasonable to get the certification.

[Blackadar]

Blackie:

But the point still remains - the state is the one making it so hard to get that certification, not NCLB. NCLB is just stating that you have to follow your certification guidelines. If your state chooses to make it that difficult to get a certification, you cannot blame NCLB imo. States like VA (and CT mentioned above) make it reasonable to get the certification.

Wade, the point is that NCLB took all flexibility and common sense out of the process. In an effort to "fix" education, they threw the baby out with the bathwater.

[wade moore]

Wade, the point is that NCLB took all flexibility and common sense out of the process. In an effort to "fix" education, they threw the baby out with the bathwater.

Again.. the STATE is being inflexible by not making some sort of fast-track way to get certifications for those who are certified in other curriculums, etc...

[flere-imsaho]

Bingo. I also have read that further studies have detailed it even further: the common thread with kids who were successful who did NOT have parental involving is that a huge majority of them had another adult who was consistently involved in their lives.

I agree totally with the points you have been making. Parental involvement is key. However, I also believe that the quality of the opportunities at any given institution must also be a part. A school with few facilities and high student/teacher ratios will not afford the same opportunities to a child that a school with good facilities & a better student/teacher ratio will, no matter how involved the parents are.

There's a number of contributing factors, I guess is what I'm saying, even though parental involvement (or lack thereof) is a very major factor.

Part of the problem with 'fixing' education is that nobody can really tell you what's WRONG with education. There are too many competing theories.

Quite. Which is why politicians will never "solve" it.

[sterlingice]

To put this in context, my dad was a football coach and he taught PE, typing, and math for kids who couldn't add. if you showed him a diagram for hydrochloride he would probably say "What kind of screwed up defense is that?" The only time he went into physics class was to make sure there wasn't some young mand hiding in there who was 6'2" 250lbs and needed to be out on the football field.
Awesome :D

SI

[sterlingice]

Quite. Which is why politicians will never "solve" it.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean "stop trying". There's a problem- sure you can't get a partial solution- but you can help it somewhat. That said, most people doing it are just vote buying these days, but really, what topic isn't like that.

SI

[Blackadar]

Again.. the STATE is being inflexible by not making some sort of fast-track way to get certifications for those who are certified in other curriculums, etc...

You're conveniently forgetting two things:

1. Political ramifications.
2. The Education Department - a federal agency - has the approval authority on those certifications.

See this:

http://www.bridges4kids.org/articles/9-02/EdWeek9-4-02b.html

I'm done discussing this. I know what my wife thought about the ramifications of NCLB on students, teachers, parents and the administration. I know what it required of her to continue to teach 1st grade.

I also know that it wasn't the reason she retired. But it is one of the reasons she probably will never return.

[wade moore]

Wow, did not realize you were taking this so personally, my apologies.

I still maintain that the idea behind NCLB is very good, but there are improvements needed.

But I also think it is being blamed for a lot of things that it should not be. There are states that are not having the problems you've mentioned, so that tells me there is more to it than just NCLB.

[AENeuman]

Appropriate curriculum is appropriate curriculum, and successful completion of that is not relative, it's absolute.

I would substitute "curriculum" with "learning." I don't think the content is as important as the context.

One of the biggest pushes in education is to make learning relevant in order to gain the interest of the students. Local communities would be better at using examples that makes the learning more accessible.

For example, if one of the main goals in teaching history is to teach critical thinking then I can see a great benefit in teaching more cultural and regional histories. The learning would be the same, they would still have to learn to read, write, ask critical questions, but they would also have more of a vested interest, a may actually do the homework.

You may say math is math, but if I am learning statistics of how likely people in my neighborhood get cancer/go to college/play professional ball. etc then I might pay more attention. Same can be said about reading.

[JonInMiddleGA]

... if I am learning statistics of how likely people in my neighborhood get cancer/go to college/play professional ball. etc then I might pay more attention. Same can be said about reading.

That's roughly what I was trying to say about not being particular about "method". In Indiana, use basketball stats to teach percentages, in St.Louis, use Cardinals stats, etc.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I'm just going to nit-pick for a second about blackie's concerns...


conflicts with this:


My fiance is a certified teacher getting her master's now and what you're saying her confuses me... how can she be certified but not? Not sure this directly relates to NCLB, but requiring teachers to be certified seems like an overall good concept in my book...


According to NCLB, you must have a degree in your field. A Minor is not good enough. I had 24 credits of English for my minor, which is as much as I would have had if I was an English Ed major (I majored in Theatre Ed), I meet all of my state's criteria for certification, and I've been teaching English for 6 years, but the Feds do not consider me a "Highly Qualified" teacher, and I have to fill out form after form each year to fulfill my state's HOUSE requirements and gain "Highly Qualified" status. The alternative is to notify each student's family that I am not "Highly Qualified," and allow them to transfer classes.

[ColtCrazy]

I am a teacher in Indiana. Since No Child came in, we've added a lot of state standards to the list. I know for a fact that it's almost the norm now to "teach the test" with some teacher openly discussing ways for students to understand how questions are worded on the test. It seems we no longer prepare the kids for life, we prepare them to spit back what we force feed them. I'm not saying we shouldn't teach the standards, now, those are things that need to be taught, but the weight they put on the test and the way they go about enforcing No Child (I've been on more committees in my last 2 years of teaching than I was in my first 5) is damaging education.

To top it off, now that Indiana is under financial strains, what's the first thing to get cut? Educational funding. Sure, take on more to do during the year and cut the money you give us to get it done.

But I'm not bitter at all. :-)

[sterlingice]

I am a teacher in Indiana. Since No Child came in, we've added a lot of state standards to the list. I know for a fact that it's almost the norm now to "teach the test" with some teacher openly discussing ways for students to understand how questions are worded on the test. It seems we no longer prepare the kids for life, we prepare them to spit back what we force feed them. I'm not saying we shouldn't teach the standards, now, those are things that need to be taught, but the weight they put on the test and the way they go about enforcing No Child (I've been on more committees in my last 2 years of teaching than I was in my first 5) is damaging education.
If Bush wasn't too busy trying to sell that, he would have seen that's how it was in Texas. For a lot of us, it was a half day of boring tests and the rest of the free time reading or whatnot. But for those borderline people who were in danger of failing, their entire Math and English classes were geared towards passing the test. I sat in the back of my Physics class and listened to the math teacher across the hall talk about "how to solve these Algebra problems so you could pass the test" for pretty much the entire semester.

SI