Dr. Louise Darnell is critical of NCLB, but her critique is evenhanded and useful to read:
The initial flurry of data is having at least one positive effect: The social engineers have to face reality. In the case of No Child, the grand plan is for more than 70 percent of American students to meet proficient levels on their state tests by 2014. Researchers from UCLA reviewed reading test scores over five years in the 1990s and found that only three out of 33 states met a standard of a 1 percent annual increase. This is far below the annual 5 to 6 percent increase that would be required to meet No Child’s goals...
All these problems are real, but to me, the biggest problem lies in how educators are going to translate the mounting pile of data into something that improves teaching and learning in a school. The number crunchers and the teachers do not speak the same language.
In my work, I regularly interview teachers and observe them at their craft. As a parent, I’ve spent a fair amount of time at PTA meetings and school site teams chatting with teachers, and the subject of standardized tests comes up frequently. I have yet to meet one teacher who says she or he uses standardized test results to improve teaching...
Unless the budget for the war in Iraq is suddenly channeled into the Department of Education, I doubt that anyone is ever going analyze the No Child data so teachers and parents can use it...as the data points pile up, we should not lose sight of what makes learning happen: A teacher who inspires students to realize their potential.
Here’s my "off the shelf" education accountability test: I know people who display photographs of special teachers on their shelves well into adulthood. To date, there’s no accountability test on any shelf that is sensitive enough to measure that kind of connection. Not to worry. This is not something that requires a validated test, lots of money, or an act of Congress. Just talk to your kids. Do they love their teacher? Do they suddenly seem to be excited about science or math or reading or history in a whole new way? Are they asking you intellectual questions you cannot answer? That’s all the data you need to know whether your local school is working or not.
Great suggestion. In fact, many homeschoolers list their child's responses to such questions as the basis for their decision to homeschool. Listening to the child's "report" on the teacher might thus be as informative as test scores, and more informative than the teacher's subjective reports on the child.
And speaking of homeschooling, the reporters in Washington state have woken up to smell the Starbucks - Homeschooling goes mainstream:
More than ever before, parents are choosing to teach their children at home. Since the state started keeping track of the number of home-schoolers in 1987, two years after it became legal in Washington, the number of registered home-schoolers has more than quadrupled. In the 1987-88 school year, 4,045 students were officially being schooled at home. Last year, more than 19,500 students were home-schooled...
Religious concerns, better development of their kids' character and morality, a poor learning environment in public school and the simple belief that they can provide a better education for their kids at home are among the reasons more parents are turning to home schooling, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Too bad the practice is still "controversial," at least for those who lose jobs when parents homeschool:
Although more families are home-schooling their children nationwide, it remains controversial. The National PTA, National Education Association and the National Association of Elementary School Principals oppose it. The Washington Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, takes no stance on home-schooling, said spokesman Rich Wood.
My advice to parents: Ignore the PTA. You know what's best for your child.
Posted by kswygert at January 5, 2004 11:29 AM