I came across a couple columns today that discuss some of the objections to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that have puzzled me. Those being the complaint that NCLB has ruined education with all its rigorous, boring standards and the tedious assessments that go with them. What do these complainers think education was like before NCLB?
Old Liverpool Elementary School, Valley City, Ohio
Karen Chenoweth in the Washington Post reflects on her education in “Why ‘No Child’ Was Needed” remembering examples of false information and indifferent teachers who had no accountability.
My elementary school teachers had been able to control their classrooms, but they didn’t teach a whole lot of history, science, art or music. In introducing a unit on batteries, for instance, my fifth-grade teacher said: “I don’t like science either, but we are supposed to cover this.” She never bothered finding out whether we learned anything about batteries — tedious “covering” was enough.
Then D-Ed Reckoning added his two cents on his youthful days in school.
If I had to pick one word to describe my K-8 experience it would be: bored. If I had two words, I’d pick: bored silly. NCLB didn’t cause boredom, schools were already boring. They weren’t boring because of dull teacher presentations; they were boring because not much was being taught and not much was expected of us.
Both of these commentaries are insightful. It seems that public discourse is, typically, very myopic. That is, history begins with personal experience. What happened before doesn’t really generate any interest. But, we’ve long had standardized testing of some sort though it was typically norm-reference based and practically useless. It has always been somewhat dull. The exceptional teachers inspire and make learning fun.
I remember incredibly dull classes and lazy teachers. How about the American History teacher who daily copied sentences from the text onto the board and we had to fill in the blanks? I’ve previously mentioned the quarter spent on Great Society indoctrination in the form of studying Akron’s urban renewal program. I showed my sixth grade teacher how to divide fractions after I was the only student in the class with the correct homework answer. That was because I was the only student who didn’t do it the way she had taught; in my confusion I had asked my dad for help.
The teaching profession in general has shown that they cannot be trusted to provide students with a quality education. They have to be held accountable. If there is a better way than content standards and assessments I don’t know what it is. Is there another way to measure the results of a term spent in a class?
I will here place a disclaimer to state that I’ve had outstanding teachers. I have the deepest gratitude for the teachers of my youth who went beyond the usual to require my classmates and me in our rural Ohio high school to give our best. So, here’s to Mr. Frank Pasquerella who made it possible for a mediocre musician to love band. And to Mrs. Margaret Campbell who made Shakespeare fun and easy to read. Because of her I even liked advanced grammar. Mr. Robert Leget enthusiastically introduced me to the subjects that I eventually made a career of in science and engineering. Mr. William Haumesser, a math teacher who was always diligent and patient to explain the knotty problems and challenge us. There are others but these are the ones that always come to mind first. They were truly gifted teachers and I loved being in their classes.
It is very easy to get into the loop regarding NCLB and the bad points concerning it. In my post today I complained about the state test my students have to take, so your post is taking me to task a bit.
There are many good things concerning NCLB. The main thing I appreciate is the fact that educators have to more focused on their area of curriculum. What I mean by this is teachers can no longer teach a unit simply because they wrote it in college and its already done or because they like dinosaurs even though they teach a different subject.
NCLB mandates also keep history teachers like me from copying those sentences on the board and having the kidlets fill them in. Of course, I’d never do that, but I did have history teachers back in the 70s that did.
It sounds as though you’re suggesting that the drawbacks to NCLB don’t matter because there were bad teachers before the law, too. Maybe I am misunderstanding.
The sad thing is that NCLB has led some good teachers to spend too much of their class time giving and practicing tests.
If you read the text of the law, it is clear that the folks who wrote it had something good in mind: they wanted to even things out for students, so that schools weren’t divided into good schools and bad schools. They wanted things to be more fair. They wanted it to be easier to catch bad teachers being bad, and rescue their students.
Unfortunately, those things can’t be accomplished by giving lots and lots of standardized tests.
What if the money now used for testing and test practice went instead for books, manipulatives, and training?
Rebecca,
It’s not my intention to say the drawbacks don’t matter but I do think that accountability must be maintained. You’re correct in saying that good teachers cannot fully do their best job because of the requirements of assessment. Is there a better way to ensure good content? A better way to measure? Again, I don’t know but I am open to possibilities.
Today’s teachers are reaping what was sown by the lousy teachers of my youth. They don’t have the freedoms they want because those teachers did not maintain the standards of their profession. It’s a frustrating position for a teacher who will excel without guidelines.
October 29, 2007
I think that both sides of the debate present good points. What we must do now is find a medium. Teachers should be held accountable but when holding teachers accountable begins to impede the learning of major concepts there is a serious problem. As a middle school teacher I find myself teaching to the test to often. I did not get into the profession to teach students to become good test takers but to become intellectuals and well rounded students.
One thing that I have noticed from many supporters of NCLB is that they refer back to their negative experiences as students and use this to discredit the education system before NCLB. My experience in the New York public school system was also one of boredom and rote learning but it did give me the foundation to go on to clooege and become an educator. The old school system gave many of these critics of the old system the foundation to do whatever it is they are doing. Regardless of their negative experiences they still excelled. Maybe I am the exception but good family values taught me to learn in any situation and to get extra help when needed. One thing I notice about my students is that they take no ownership in their own education. These are lessons that need to be taught at home. If I had the spare time to teach these lessons I would be more than glad to but it would be at the expense of time needed to prepare for the state assessment and bi-weekly exams used to hold me accountable.
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