Amanda, Alexandra, Rachel and Kelly’s thoughts on NCLB

Before I begin, I take full responsibility for this blog summary being late. While I did post on my personal blog early, I confused my day to post to the mother blog (which is indicative of where my head has been lately). So without further a do…

Both Alexandra and Kelly agree that No Child Left Behind is a good idea in theory. Alexandra especially likes the setting of high goals and expectations for all students; however she believes the practice has strayed from its purpose. In particular, she feels that the act denies necessary resources and influences the cutting of other programs in order to teach to the test. Ultimately, Alexandra struggles with whether standardized testing is a necessity or evil, or even possibly a necessary evil?

Kelly questions how there can be a national standard when standards among states differ. She also grapples with the fairness of testing ESL kids and kids with special needs with the same standards as the mainstream students. That said, Kelly is in agreement with the fact that teachers should have accountability and acknowledges that we are all here advancing our careers for that purpose.

Rachel wonders how NCLB assists students in reading, especially when the test is taken in the Scantron format. She finds that the act puts too much pressure on students, teachers and schools, which she ultimately finds ineffective. Rachel also finds it sad that the assessment of students is so politically driven and that it’s become so corrupt.

I agree with all of these questions and criticisms of No Child Left Behind. Having been influenced to teach to the test myself, I see that it comes at the cost of deeper comprehension for the students. My co-teacher and I made the choice to use a period a week for test prep, while simultaneously being short of time for the students to read independently. Although my class on the whole was mostly “proficient” they are not impassioned readers, illustrating that in the long run we made the choice for a quick fix. The other thing I found appalling about NCLB was that it opened the door for military recruiters. I wonder if the scores of these tests influence where they do the most solicitation and if it’s not just a way for our dear president to recruit more students who are struggling.