Some NCLB responses
I wanted to share two responses I received after I posted thoughts on NCLB and whether Oklahoma was making more progress before the landmark federal law took effect. I realize two responses don’t represent anything close to the totality of views on NCLB, but they’re interesting nonetheless.
This is from Vicki Harbert, counselor at Tishomingo High School (The emphasis is hers; I’ve broken up the paragraphs.):
“No Child Left Behind is a wonderful idea in theory, but a dismal failure in reality. The truth is, there are children being left behind. It is utterly ridiculous to think that all children will achieve to set standards without regard to cognitive ability, economic status, English speaking or not, parental involvement, etc.
“I feel that rural schools in poorer counties in Oklahoma are at a distinct disadvantage in meeting the letter of the law in NCLB. Several reports I’ve recently read tout the fact that student achievement is rising due to NCLB. In actuality, teaching for the test is rising. Why spend time on topics that are not “tested,” even though a teacher may feel they are extremely important to growing a child of integrity, character and knowledge?
“Teachers cannot afford the luxury of a well-rounded education because of the constraints of NCLB. Counselors are being overwhelmed with paperwork, reports, training and testing preparation for the ones helping administer tests, helping students and parents with test anxiety (and even some teachers who feel like their jobs are on the line if their students perform poorly), in addition to the security of the tests! I became a school counselor to counsel and advise students, not to give tests!
“I will leave public education before I am required to add one more test to measure the “success” of NCLB.”
This one is from M. Gene Henderson, a retired 20-year superintendent from Missouri (I’ve changed a few things, but not much.):
“I’m a retired 20-year superintendent, 16 at Francis Howell of St. Charles County, Missouri. FH was the first school to operate a four-cycle, year-round program. We tested to discover the effect. Finally got smart and asked the teachers.”Teachers have already said it loudly and clearly. NCLB is a disaster on the way to a calamity.
“Each responsible administrator should interview a ‘random sample’ (all or 30) of a unit’s teachers. The interview questions should be constructed by interview, then interviews conducted by an (verifiable leader) administrator. Each school has its own result with, we would think, (would) overlap.
“Isn’t it a shame that test scores are sought instead of asking the teacher? Test scores, handled carefully, can tell some things about a group, but almost nothing we want to know about individuals. Too many of us think a number can reveal info about extremely complex matters. ”
Keep ‘em coming. Click below to e-mail me.
Back to the Future (with all due respect to Hollywood)
I spoke with Bob Mooneyham, the executive director of the National Rural Education Association, today, and came away with some things to ponder.
Now, I’ll say from the get-go that I’m not gonna take the time to compare test score trends from a decade ago to today’s to post in a blog. But I may revisit the topic for a future story.
By Mooneyham’s reckoning, the one-size-fits-all formula of No Child Left Behind Act actually stifled progress Oklahoma and other states already were making — in some cases, had been making for some time.
I’ve heard this argument before; I just didn’t realize it may apply here. Typically, those who must implement NCLB prefer to focus on the progress the state has made since its passage than the progress that could have been made (or perhaps not made) had the state been left to continue doing what it had been doing.
I’m sure the law puts them in an odd place — defending accountability measures with which they may justifiably disagree – but that’s nothing new for public servants.
I can’t say I have ever picked up on this from state education officials, but I can’t imagine it’s not at least somewhat true. Push for (or fight against, as the case may be) reforms only to see them pre-empted by federal law.
“It changed the reforms that were already in place,” Mooneyham said of the 2001 act that required a range of targets for schools and districts to meet. “If anything, the one-size-fits-all strategy of No Child Left Behind was counterproductive,” he said.
Was Oklahoma making more progress before NCLB than it is now? Is it making enough progress now? How would things have been different had NCLB not been introduced?
I don’t know the answers to these questions but am curious about what others think. Click on my name to e-mail me or call me at (405) 475-3364.
Study Break
It’s time to study. For lawmakers, at least.
The Oklahoma Senate has announced 35 interim legislative studies, and several are tied directly to education.
Here are the topics — some rather broad — along with the Senator who requested the study and committee it was assigned to:
Graduation and drop out rates; GED requirements and rules; Thunderbird Youth Academy; Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson; Education committee
Academic Performance Index; Sen.Kathleen Wilcoxson; Education committee
“Weighted” students, “at risk” students, and the proportion of funding schools receive; Sen. Judy Eason-McIntyre; Education committee
Funding mechanism for (OSU) Extension Services; Sen. Jeff Rabon; Appropriations committee
Review of the higher education funding formula as it relates to two year and regional institutions; Sen. Kenneth Corn; Appropriations committee
Higher Education funding formula with respect to institutional peer groupings; Sen. Susan Paddack; Appropriations committee
Review the constitutional and statutory requirements for serving on the Oklahoma State Board of Regents for the Agricultural and Mechanical
Colleges; Sen. Patrick Anderson; Education committee
What are your thoughts on this list? Do you think anything will come of the committee studies?
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
The race to go global
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett’s speech and a video that preceded it had some sobering information we all ought to consider.
Garrett’s speech came during her annual leadership conference.
Read Garrett’s speech here.
See the video here in QuickTime format and here in Windows Media Player format.
A few excerpts:
- If you’re one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you.
- The 25 percent of Chinese people with the highest IQs exceed the population of North America.
- China will soon become the number one English-speaking country in the world.
Now, the heady stuff.
- Today’s student will have 10 to 14 jobs by age 38.
- One out of four workers currently works for a company with whom they have been employed for less than a year.
- Former Education Secretary Richard Riley predicts the top 10 jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
- One out of every eight couples who married in the United States last year met online.
- The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the planet’s population.
- A week’s worth of The New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
Now, the stuff that gives me hope and nightmares at the same time.
- By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capacity of the human brain.
- By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the brain’s computational capacity.
- By 2049, the $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capacity of the human race.
Say what you will (and many people have) about Garrett’s push for longer school days and school years. The video is stark and speaks for itself.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
AFT calls for longer school year
The president of the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday called for extending the school year.
Edward J. McElroy proposed pushing the year into the summer to provide intensive instruction and enriching out-of-classroom activities for at-risk kindergartners through third-graders. McElroy was speaking before more than 2,000 educators and paraprofessionals at the AFT’s national professional issues conference, according to a union press release.
“We are simply losing too many children during the long summer months, when they forget much of what they learned during the school year. Struggling students need additional instruction, enrichment and more time,” McElroy said, according to the release.
The proposal is designed to keep students from losing what they’ve learned while off for the summer. McElroy proposed that the summer extension last a minimum of 20 days.
“The summer extension would offer struggling students instructional methods proven to be effective, as well as enriching experiences such as museum visits, educational field trips and other summer activities,” according to the release.
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett on Tuesday called for increasing the school day by one hour and increasing the school year by five days, saying the changes would help make Oklahoma students competitive with their regional and international peers.
