Time to Put the Candidates to the Test
In this primary season, one major issue has been all but missing in action: education. Most experts agree that No Child Left Behind, President Bush's plan for closing the achievement gap between rich and poor kids, is a noble effort. But it has serious downsides. It punishes struggling schools, turns classes into test-prep factories and has caused some states to lower, not raise, standards. How will the next president fix it? NEWSWEEK asked two experts, the Education Sector's Thomas Toch and Jeanne Allen, chief of the Center for Education Reform, to evaluate each candidate's plan. Then we assigned grades.
Clinton
The Stance
: She has Bill bashing NCLB on the campaign trail but also pushed for more federal money to help schools give higher-quality tests. Would track every student in every grade. Wants more money for early-childhood education.
The Reality Check: Allen say she's currying favor with the largely Democratic teacher's unions, who hate the rigid NCLB, while still backing accountability. Toch says look for her to warm up to the idea of performance pay if she's the nominee. B-
Obama
The Stance
: Wants the federal government to measure skills such as conducting research, defending ideas and solving problems. Wants schools to use test data to help shape lessons. Favors performance pay for teachers.
The Reality Check: Well intentioned, but Allen warns that the skills he likes are hard to test statewide. Toch applauds efforts to test kids on thinking, not regurgitation. Performance pay, he warns, is easy to talk about but hard to execute. B+
Huckabee
The Stance
: Wants to give states more power to decide the benchmarks for NCLB; eliminate test-prep factories by ensuring all kids get music, arts education, and give parents the option of transferring kids out of failing schools.
The Reality Check: States set benchmarks now, says Toch, and they range from laudable to laughable. (Arkansas: the pits.) Allen says locals are often the worst culprits in bad schooling. A national barometer ensures states educate all kids. D+
McCain
The Stance
: Likes NCLB but wants to change the tone: support, not confront, failing schools. He'd revamp Head Start and improve rates of high-school graduation, too. Supports the spread of charter schools and vouchers.
The Reality Check: Allen applauds his stance on school choice but frets that supporting schools means coddling school boards and unions. Ensuring more kids graduate from high school is a good idea, says Toch, but how exactly do you do that? B+
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: Vote4Prosperity @ 03/06/2008 10:58:15 PM
Comment: Hillary's plan is the best!
Posted By: tprice @ 02/17/2008 8:36:31 PM
Comment: It is a grand idea, grade the candidates; then give them a reality check (biased). What plagues this society is its inability to unite under one common cause, even the article explains it as Bush's NCLB when in reality, it is our plan, our goals, our project, our objectives, our sons and daughters. Just show me a candidate, a house, and a senate that pledge cooperation and production. What teacher grades a student prior to their work or assessment? A Highly Qualified Michigan Teacher.
Posted By: lindalweber @ 02/13/2008 10:58:26 AM
Comment: I was disappointed as an educator to read Jeanne Allen's reply to Obama's desire to have the federal government "measure skills such as conducting research, defending ideas and solving problems." So I???m hoping that her comment was cut short by the writer of the article because the Reality Check did not convey the absolute need to do it.
Yes, the skills Obama mentioned are hard to test, but aren't all worthy endeavors "hard?" Education reform is not easy, it is hard. For too long, many educators in this country have taught and tested the easy way. As a result, we have an epidemic of high school dropouts and graduating students who aren't prepared for college or the workforce. Tests are supposed to be designed to measure what's worthy of knowing, understanding, and being able to do. Is it the test that matters or the goals? Which should serve the purposes of the other?
Statewide testing of problem solving and thinking skills would not be easy, but it can and must be done. Maybe test developers could get some tips from those who developed an international assessment of cross-disciplinary problem solving (PISA 2003). Certainly if valid assessments could be designed for different countries, ones could be developed for different states. By the way, 15 year-olds in 41 countries participated in PISA problem-solving and U.S. performance was dismal. According to PISA???s 3 level proficiency scale, 24% of U.S. students scored below proficiency level 1; 34% at proficiency level 1; 30% at proficiency level 2; and 12% at proficiency level 3, the top level. Four countries (Finland, Hong Kong-China, Japan, Korea) had 30% or more of their students perform at the top level. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004).
Problem-solving is becoming an essential literacy for the 21st century because it involves the capacity of students to apply knowledge and skills from content areas with the ability to analyze, interpret, reason, and communicate solutions. This is the type of problem-solving tested by PISA. If the U.S. values such skills, it should not shrink from the challenge simply because it will be "hard to test statewide." If we want our kids to be successful in school, work, and life, we must do it.