Most decisions are made with good intentions but sometimes the consequences of those decisions can not be known until they are implemented. This is why it’s important to revisit, rethink, and renew. This is what has happened with NCLB. It’s origin goes back to 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as a part of the "War on Poverty." ESEA emphasizes equal access to education and establishes high standards and accountability. In 2002, Congress amended ESEA and reauthorized it as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) but not without influences of the proposed school reforms from the Bush and Clinton administrations.
During the first Bush administration, a reform bill was passed titled America, 2000. This reform involved creating private non-profit organizations with experts to create systems of accountability, community involvement, incentives, and alternatives (charter schools). When Clinton went into office his administration recognized the repercussions of charter schools on the public school system and in 1993 adopted a revised reform bill called Goals 2000:Educate America Act. This reform bill laid the groundwork for NCLB with the goal that all of the following would be achieved by the year 2000:
1. All children in America will start school ready to learn.
2. The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.
3. All students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter, including English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, art, history, and geography; and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern economy.
4. U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement.
5. Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
6. Every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
7. The Nation's teaching force will have access to programs for the continued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American students for the next century.
8. Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.
NCLB was adopted during the second Bush(Jr) administration. It advanced the agenda for school reform, pronounced the reliance on standards, increased responsibility and accountability to schools, and attached consequences for not following through. The emphasis is on literacy, math, and teacher quality. Teacher quality has been tied to student achievement and school test results are believed to reflect teacher quality. This is all in an effort to make schools better. NCLB is currently under revision again. The Obama administration plans to broaden the focus to include more content areas, decrease emphasis on standardized testing and increase authentic tests, and provide support rather than punish schools that are not meeting standards. Maybe schools will be in a constant state of flux and reform but hopefully we are getting closer to a healthy system of learning and growing for all.
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I was particularly interested in Goal #6 and did some research on the web. I came across an article written by an African-American teen who attended two vastly different schools in New York. He wrote about the major differences between the schools, stemming from the ethnic demographics of attending students. While his primary school he attended was made up of around 72% Asian or White students, the second school consisted of around 94% Hispanic/African-American students. In 1998, the DOE transferred all responsibility regarding safety in public schools to the NYPD. The result is alarming and as I read about the metal detectors, police presence and harassment/assaults in the school with more Hispanic/African-American demographics it makes me wonder, is this environment really “conducive to learning”?
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, even if statistics do show there is a greater need for drastic measures in schools that are prone to violence and drugs, how far can we go to ensure that “every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol”? While the young author is “outraged” at the resemblance of a prison, he cannot be the only one who feels like his educational environment is restricting his ability to learn. Not ever having experienced the environment of such a school, I have no idea what the answer is. How can we keep our children safe and offer a safe environment that is conducive to learning without making them feel as though they are in prison? In an environment that is saturated with violence, how can one not expect the violence to seep into the very schools within that community? I feel that it is unrealistic to make a goal that every school will be completely free of violence and weapons, why would someone even attempt to voice that? We cannot even get children to respect each other entirely, every day, or complete every assignment given.
Here’s the website to this quick but enlightening article:
http://www.youthcomm.org/NYC%20Features/Dec2007/NYC-2007-12-17.htm
I also was interested in Goal #5, regarding adult literacy. I was curious on how we are addressing the high rate of illiteracy in our U.S. prisons. Here is a website that discusses the illiteracy numbers.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/literacy/stats.asp
I found that now, five states now are spending more $ on their prisons/prisoner”s care than on their colleges. And this money is not just for educational purposes.
While Goal #5 states, “Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship”, statistics show that at the very least, half the released inmates return to jail or prison within three years.
So here are some of my thoughts about “Education Politics in America”. I suppose it’s easy for me to live where we do and look at these goals as “attainable” but after some research, it is somewhat depressing and seemingly hopeless. I feel for the children of our nation who are not given the best opportunities in life and I wonder how can we make a difference in each one of their lives when the cards are stacked against them?
That's great information pertaining to NCLB...thanks for posting, Rebecca. Autumn, I completely agree with you- I detect a hint of disdain for NCLB (I am not a fan either). Teacher quality cannot possibly be tied to the generalized tests-that's ridiculous. That's like making a shoe that you think is fabulous and wonderful and will help you walk and run faster. You market your shoe to everyone, from infants to adults, and the problem is, you only sell one size, and force everyone to wear that one size. My analogy is kind of weak, but it just seems so obvious that the assessments of NCLB cannot be applied to each and every school equally. No way. Common sense alone tells me that can't work- some schools are rich, others are poor. Some schools have an abundant amount of parental involvement, others do not. There are too many varying factors to apply this one size fits all strategy. I do hope other assessments are used, and I would rather see schools receive help rather than be punished. Common sense!!!
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