Educators cite defects of No Child Left Behind
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published March 12, 2008 at 6:31 p.m.
Updated March 12, 2008 at 11:03 p.m.
Silvia Razgova / Special to the Rocky
School board members, from left, Robert Stack and Linda Trimberger, both from the Greeley-Evans school district, and Janet Tanner, of Colorado Springs, listen Wednesday to Michelle Moss, of Denver, at a meeting with Assistant Education Secretary Ray Simon.
President Bush's signature education law hurts schools by interfering with local decision making and by wrongly stigmatizing some schools as failures.
That was the message a dozen Colorado education leaders gave Assistant Education Secretary Ray Simon Wednesday.
"You have a system that's de-motivating, not motivating," Jefferson County School Superintendent Cindy Stevenson told Simon.
Simon, a former Arkansas state school official, is on a listening tour in several Western states.
Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. The measure calls for all children to meet academic standards by 2014.
But many educators dislike the measure.
Many are bitter over a requirement that classroom aides have at least a two-year college degree. That led to the loss of many parents without degrees who have a wealth of knowledge about kids and know how to speak Spanish, said Denver Board of Education member Michelle Moss.
"It was important to have those parents in the building . . . They serve as ambassadors to the community," Moss said. "We have lost most of them."
Such rules stifle creativity, said Ken DeLay, the director of the Colorado Association of School Boards.
"Creativity is hard to grow and develop in a heavily regulated environment," DeLay said.
The law sets dozens of academic targets for schools and school districts that become increasingly difficult each year. And schools that miss even one goal can be stigmatized as failing to make "adequate yearly progress."
That's frustrating for educators, said Stevenson, who heads the state's largest district.
"If you felt you had a chance to be successful, you'd have more motivation to play the game," she said. Most educators support the goals, she added.
Simon appeared sympathetic to much of what the officials told him, including the plea to stop lumping schools that miss just one goal with those that fail most of their goals.
"You need to be able to concentrate on that core group (of failing schools)," Simon said.
Greeley school board member Robert Stack said No Child Left Behind is losing public support because it is identified with Bush.
"There is a portion of our nation who does not like him and they have associated No Child Left Behind with him," Stack, a political independent, said after the meeting.
Following the meeting, Simon said parents still support the goal of No Child Left Behind - raising achievement - once it's explained to them.
morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303 954-5209
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March 12, 2008
10:50 p.m.
Suggest removal
happymike44 writes:
This is for all the teachers.There are some student who are disrupting classes and don't want to learn.They also encourage others to rebel against a teacher.I will never teach school because of all the mothers who say you can't do this and you can't do that.My kid would never do that,It's the other kids fault.For all the teachers out there I understand what you up against.For all those parents who teach their kids not to respect each other and carry guns.Please keep your kids at home,why because your social outlook is not valued by any of us.Why should your little sweetie take time away from the good kids,who want to learn.If your kid does not want to learn then you have failed as a parent.other wise it is time to take control of your kids and act like an adult.To everyone else what do you think?
March 13, 2008
5:40 a.m.
Suggest removal
jane writes:
I absolutely agree that student disruptions are the greatest hindrance to achievement. The second greatest is student apathy with no accountability for parents or students. Exactly how is a teacher supposed to *make* a student who doesn't want to do an assignment actually do it? These are practical questions and no one is answering them because we're afraid of the parents of bullies (and disruptive students are bullies - to peers and to teachers) and lazy kids. If they need a different environment, then create an alternative school and send them there - but school works for 90% of the kids if they are allowed to study, watch, listen, and participate in peace.
March 14, 2008
9:52 p.m.
Suggest removal
Frank25 writes:
Problems do exist with this program and CSAP. Funds are voted for school activities, including teaching, testing, supervising, and managing classroom, with time allocated for preparation. Elitist teachers should be writing test questions and planning for needs of students, not the rigid methology shown on net for both programs. CSAP should be one test, no more than 150 questions, and no more than 1 1/2 hours with all areas in one test. More than this tests endurance, not knowledge or abilities. I taught in military, with very similar mathematics and science base for electronics, with tests that covered systems, test equipment, fundamentals, aircraft, safety, and troubleshooting problems. Promotions, future schools, and work assignments were determined. Multiple choice with basic stem, and 4 to 5 distractors, with only one true answer for given condition. Somehow, public teachers feel they have to show their knowledge, rather than testing their students. This fails the student, the school, the state, and all tax-payers. Establish curricula, lesson plans and tests for that curricula, and don't advance each student until they master grade level. Get rid of the teacher who tells students CSAP does not count, how many days they can miss class without effecting grades, and watch those who complain they can't comply. If student fails class from own non-work or attendance, parents should be taxed for portion of that repeat costs. They and their student did not live up to expectation and I resent being taxed again for the failure. Take it out of their benefits or wages, as any other debt owed to state. Absences must be accounted for- excused or not excused, but material must be learned in either case for progression. When I taught, policy was "if the student did not learn, the teacher did not teach". I took it personal if any student failed to progress.