Posted on 09/18/2006 10:22:31 AM PDT by RonaldReaganFellow
NCLB results don't tell us what we need to know
Last year over 600 Arizona public schools, almost three times as many as the previous year, failed to meet federal academic requirements under No Child Left Behind. The increase is mostly due to the U.S. Department of Education requiring Arizona to include English language learners in the AIMS test.
This illustrates the challenge of attempting to hold schools "accountable" for results from the top down. A tripling of the number of failing schools in a single year reveals the arbitrary nature of NCLB rankings.
We cannot, however, place much confidence in the previous year's ranking either. At that time, only around 200 schools were ranked failing despite the fact that 48 percent of Arizona public school fourth graders score "below basic" on reading according to The Nation's Report Card.
Here's a modest proposal: Let's replace criterion referenced test regimes like AIMS and the games that come along with them--cut score manipulation, exclusion of scores, dummying of tests--with a national norm-referenced test such as the Stanford 9. Make grade level, classroom, and individual results available to parents. Then allow parents to hold schools accountable through increased school choice options.
It's hard to tell whether we have identified the correct number of "failing schools," but it is certain that under the status-quo we are failing far too many children.
Matthew Ladner is vice president for research at the Goldwater Institute.
I just keep wondering if all the time spent on bilingual education is partly to blame. I am the child of immigrants and the parochial schools did not believe in bilingual education in my day. We all learned in English even though at home our parents would speak in their native language. I also went to school at a time when there were 60+ kids in a classroom. We all learned and some of us went on to college and did well. I also feel that the teacher's unions need to go out of existence. So much of the money given to schools goes to the top heavy beauracracy of the teachers union. There is no accountability for bad teachers once they get tenure. If I had a school age child, I would seriously consider home schooling.
We keep hearing that recent latino students, illegal and legal (often offspring of illegals) do not do well educationally speaking. Then we hear that these same kids are overwhelming our school system. Now these fools are scratching their heads about failing schools.
Schools don't fail. Kids do. Yeah, I know there are some pretty crappy schools and there is a lot wrong with education, but I get tired of dishonesty.
Schools don't fail ? Some pretty crappy schools and there is a lot wrong with education ????
... you don't notice the contradictions in your own statements ?
... you don't notice the contradictions in your own statements ?
Nope, because I view the root problem as being the students and their parents.
No failing teachers, administrators, or curriculum ? Blame the victims ?
That's really pathetic.
You and I will have to agree to disagree.
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