I read an interesting article in the recent issue of TEACH magizine which I receive from the Tennessee Education Association. The article is an adaptation from a book titled The Death and Life of the Great American School System:How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch (Basic Books, 2010). In this article, several issues and concerns about NCLB are brought up. She addressed the issue of the 2014 deadline for all students to be proficient in math and reading. She also bought up the issue of teaching to the test and how the demands of the testng process have taken away from what teachers address in areas/subjects other than math and reading.
I am concerned that we are not addressing all of the areas that our students will need to be successful in life. Yes reading and math are extremely important but so are knowing the history of how we got to where we are and how science affects our lifes each day. The creative nature of students is not being addressed since in many school districts the arts are the first thing to go to make more room for the aspects of meeting the requirements of NCLB. We are still seeing to high of a dropout rate among high school students and many students that continue to post secondary education find that they must take several remedial classes when they first get to college to help to catch them up to what is required for some of their college coursework. Again I ask, Are we really leaving no child behind with how we are currently teaching and with the requirements of NCLB? Only Time will tell but the current outlook is not completely clear.
There are some great points made in your post and I totally agree! The history and science subjects are just important to be teaching our children as are reading and mathmatics! Children need to be taught equally on all subjects, they all serve a purpose. Too many teachers are required to focus more towards math and reading because their students must meet certain testing standards! I think this is too much pressure towards the teacher and it puts the child at a disadvantage. It seems to me that teaching along the NCLB standards is still leaving children behind!
ReplyDeleteDebi, I am just now familiarizing myself with NCLB and I, too, wonder if it is causing more problems than it initially anticipated. I feel like NCLB has good intentions, but teachers and schools are so scared that they are not going to meet expectations. With this fear, they are focusing on the kids who have a chance to pass assessment tests and leaving behind the exact students that NCLB intended to target. It is very sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and the two other comments. I feel like the more I even try to become familiar with NCLB, the more I, myself, am being left behind. I have looked at data on high school drop outs, but I didn't know until last week that college-level drop outs are also a huge issue. Of course, the cost is one thing, but the other is that a lot of students aren't prepared for college. I think we are also taking the enjoyment out of school for a lot of children. Not every child is going to find that math and reading are the strong points. Do they need to understand? Yes, they do, but do they need exposure to other fields, which may be their cup of tea when math is not? Absolutely! I did well in math and I love to read, but I really found enjoyment and the desire to learn in the variety of social studies classes I took. They are a huge reason that I chose to study psychology and special education.
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