Report: Mixed Grades for No Child Left Behind | Newsweek Education

Posted By: Dan Rabbit @ 07/16/2008 5:00:21 PM

Comment: I am also a 4th grade teacher, MEd, 20+yrs in the classroom. NCLB is a huge mistake. It forces teachers to teach all students the same thing at the same time in the same way in order to make the highest possible scores on the same test. This is insanity. No two children even of the same age have the same interests, abilities, or learning styles. We were told NOT to teach science or social studies, and our students were not allowed even one minute of recess all year. After school tutoring and Saturday school further added to the boot camp atmosphere. Principals and teachers are fired if less than the required number of students fail the test and are promised huge bonuses of some undisclosed number of students make high enough scores. This kind of pressure caused good teachers to get out and bad teacher to be tempted to cheat. Of course it produces student progress AS MEASURED BY THE TEST but is this really progress? Does it make sense to require ALL students to take algebra? NCLB does. Think about it, how many times a day do you actually use algebra? Whole schools are "closed" if the required progress is not made not only by the whole student body but by the required percentage of each and every 'at risk' ethnic, racial, and income subgroup. So a 4000 student high school can be closed because a half dozen students of a particular subgroup fail to pass one section of that year's test. Closed means that the building is closed, the students are reassigned to a number of other campuses, and the teachers must reapply for jobs on other campuses. How on earth does that help anyone? Did those few childred fail because there was something flawed with the bricks and mortar at their old campus? NCLB crushes creativity, both of teachers and students. Instead of fostering a love of learning, it creates an oppressive climate inwhich the test is not just the thing but the only thing.

Posted By: teacher4g @ 04/29/2008 6:25:25 PM

Comment: As a fourth grade teacher I completely disagree with the Education Secretary. NCLB is inherently flawed in design. Standardized tests are not the be all and end all of determining student success. In fact, I don' t know a single undergraduate or graduate teaching program that teaches their student teachers to base student success based upon these types of tests. Standardized test have been proven to be somewhat flawed and are not always an accurate measure of student knowledge. I agree that standardized tests can sometimes be a useful tool for educators,(although in NY, the scores are given back so late it is hard to see the results as useful) however, other, more authentic forms of assessments must be used in the classroom. Educators must foster a love of learning in each of their students. Students should work hard because of this, not for a grade on a multiple choice test.

I think that the reason that we are not seeing the same results in reading as we are in math is because of how this legislation is influencing how reading is taught in schools. Books, magazines, and other forms of authentic texts are being abandoned in favor of reading textbooks. This is not the type of reading kids will be expected to do outside of school. How are kids going to learn to love reading from textbooks, worksheets, and standardized tests? If you ask me this is undermining the intelligence of each and every student in this country!

Posted By: teacher4g @ 04/29/2008 6:25:13 PM

Comment: As a fourth grade teacher I completely disagree with the Education Secretary. NCLB is inherently flawed in design. Standardized tests are not the be all and end all of determining student success. In fact, I don' t know a single undergraduate or graduate teaching program that teaches their student teachers to base student success based upon these types of tests. Standardized test have been proven to be somewhat flawed and are not always an accurate measure of student knowledge. I agree that standardized tests can sometimes be a useful tool for educators,(although in NY, the scores are given back so late it is hard to see the results as useful) however, other, more authentic forms of assessments must be used in the classroom. Educators must foster a love of learning in each of their students. Students should work hard because of this, not for a grade on a multiple choice test.

I think that the reason that we are not seeing the same results in reading as we are in math is because of how this legislation is influencing how reading is taught in schools. Books, magazines, and other forms of authentic texts are being abandoned in favor of reading textbooks. This is not the type of reading kids will be expected to do outside of school. How are kids going to learn to love reading from textbooks, worksheets, and standardized tests? If you ask me this is undermining the intelligence of each and every student in this country!

Posted By: teacher4g @ 04/29/2008 6:23:39 PM

Comment: As a fourth grade teacher I completely disagree with the Education Secretary. NCLB is inherently flawed in design. Standardized tests are not the be all and end all of determining student success. In fact, I don' t know a single undergraduate or graduate teaching program that teaches their student teachers to base student success based upon these types of tests. Standardized test have been proven to be somewhat flawed and are not always an accurate measure of student knowledge. I agree that standardized tests can sometimes be a useful tool for educators,(although in NY, the scores are given back so late it is hard to see the results as useful) however, other, more authentic forms of assessments must be used in the classroom. Educators must foster a love of learning in each of their students. Students should work hard because of this, not for a grade on a multiple choice test.

I think that the reason that we are not seeing the same results in reading as we are in math is because of how this legislation is influencing how reading is taught in schools. Books, magazines, and other forms of authentic texts are being abandoned in favor of reading textbooks. This is not the type of reading kids will be expected to do outside of school. How are kids going to learn to love reading from textbooks, worksheets, and standardized tests? If you ask me this is undermining the intelligence of each and every student in this country!

Posted By: teacher4g @ 04/29/2008 6:23:30 PM

Comment: As a fourth grade teacher I completely disagree with the Education Secretary. NCLB is inherently flawed in design. Standardized tests are not the be all and end all of determining student success. In fact, I don' t know a single undergraduate or graduate teaching program that teaches their student teachers to base student success based upon these types of tests. Standardized test have been proven to be somewhat flawed and are not always an accurate measure of student knowledge. I agree that standardized tests can sometimes be a useful tool for educators,(although in NY, the scores are given back so late it is hard to see the results as useful) however, other, more authentic forms of assessments must be used in the classroom. Educators must foster a love of learning in each of their students. Students should work hard because of this, not for a grade on a multiple choice test.

I think that the reason that we are not seeing the same results in reading as we are in math is because of how this legislation is influencing how reading is taught in schools. Books, magazines, and other forms of authentic texts are being abandoned in favor of reading textbooks. This is not the type of reading kids will be expected to do outside of school. How are kids going to learn to love reading from textbooks, worksheets, and standardized tests? If you ask me this is undermining the intelligence of each and every student in this country!

Posted By: fritzie_nelzon @ 02/19/2008 8:45:22 PM

Comment: I just wanna say that today's education focuses too much on developing the physical and intellectual capacity of children. Lawmakers should try to consider that children have to be developed not only intellectually, but also morally, spiritually and emotionally...

Posted By: james1974 @ 12/11/2007 12:17:47 PM

Comment: Talk with a teacher. Most that I have talked to have said that they have to waste so much time explaining things below grade level that the kids that could excel are being drug down. Kids are not being left behind we are dumbing up all kids by pulling down the kids that could excel. My daughter is in the 2nd grade reading on a 4th grade level because I work with her. She is graded on a 4th grade reading level where other kids in her class are graded on a kindergarden barely first grade level. She is an B student above grade level where kids who can barely read are A students below grade level. This is wrong She and other kids like her are penalized becuase the are ahead of grade level. She wont get valitorian in 6th grade because she is not dumb enough. Think about it.

Posted By: james1974 @ 12/11/2007 12:08:05 PM

Comment: Working I do not think so! It is dumbing the kids that could excel by forcing teachers to waste time explaining everything on a level lower than grade level.

Posted By: timh @ 12/11/2007 11:44:40 AM

Comment: Imagine that. The Educatio Secretary, a government employee, says a government program is working. How surprising.

Most school teachers that I have spoken with have voiced nothing but frustration wtih it.

Who am I to believe the Education Secretary, or a bunch of school teachers?

I think I'll stick with the school teachers.

Posted By: txwriter @ 10/29/2007 8:46:35 PM

Comment: I agree with the previous comment. We are raising a generation of test takers. Standardized tests are completely objective, and when teachers teach to the test, the are purely teaching objective thought and robbing our young people of their creative abilities. Sure NCLB is working, its working to train students to take tests and that is it. That is all they are getting better at. Creativity is essential to survival as a human, and as a culture, and yes, American culture is dying. As a matter of fact, so is our status as a superpower. And its all because we are only teaching our kids to think objectively.

Posted By: txwriter @ 10/29/2007 8:41:12 PM

Comment: I agree with the previous comment. I'm a Sr. level English teacher and I can attest to the fact that all of my students have been taught nothing but the test. Standardize tests are totally objective in their design, and when teachers teach to the test, they kill creativity and label kids who are creative as failures. What we end up with are people who are good at thinking objectively, but very poor at thinking creatively, which is why most of our manufacturing plants have gone overseas; Foreign plant managers think "Creatively" as well as "Objectively."

Posted By: huggs5 @ 10/23/2007 9:35:13 PM

Comment: kids are not getting smarter. teachers just only teach what is going to be on the test. students prepare only for tests and dont know how to function in the real life. it is all about tests and not about enriching the mind. i am not in favor of the no child left behind plan. i am still in high school and do not believe that it is working!