Happy Anniversary, NCLB
Today is the sixth anniversary of No Child Left Behind. Ah, it was only six years ago that we were so full of hope about student achievement, so fed up with “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” so seduced by the law’s clever name, yet standing on the precipice of one-size-fits-all testing mania and never-to-be funding.
President Bush marked the anniversary in Chicago, and the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board responded by introducing him to three older students who’ve seen no trickle-down effect of the law in the past six years. [Cross-posted with more colorful headline at Schools Matter]
With the city’s test scores static at best and in some cases falling, the Sun-Times says, “Those numbers won’t improve, many in Chicago’s trenches say, unless the law is changed to address what stands in the way: inequitable funding, overcrowding, violence, truancy and the overwhelming effects of poverty.”
NEA adds to the list the need for multiple measures, tracking progress over time, and fairer assessments of English language learners and special ed students. Oh, and quality early childhood education, improved teacher recruitment and retention, smaller class sizes, safe and modern facilities, and a real attempt to infuse 21st century skills into schools.
But in Chicago, Bush committed to rejecting any reauthorization bill that “weakens accountability,” and, if Congress doesn’t reauthorize the law, he said he’d chip away at it administratively to make the changes he wants.
Meanwhile, what’s the right gift for a sixth anniversary? About.com says “candy” or “iron.”
January 10, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Reaction to the Chicago Sun-Times article:
Chicago Sun-Times
January 10, 2008
No Child hasn’t worked
The Monday commentary [''Here are three kids left behind"] points out that since the No Child Left Behind law passed, there has been no improvement for high schoolers in Chicago. This isn’t the only test No Child has failed.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings claims that scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading tests are at all-time highs, but the improvement took place before No Child was implemented. On an international reading literacy test given to fourth-graders, American children scored 542 in 2001 and 540 in 2006. No Child hasn’t worked, despite billions of dollars spent and an incredible amount of time wasted in school.
Stephen Krashen,
professor emeritus,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles