Challenges of NCLB-Leslie Oeftering

       While I believe the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has drawn attention to some of the forgotten children in this country, those that fall between the cracks, the negatives out way the positives.  It is not the idea of NCLB but the way we have gone about correcting the problems of those we pass along without the ability to read or do simple math. In the “NCLB Truth and Consequences” video several key points were made about the problems with NCLB; no national standards, too many standardized tests, too long in receiving results, stronger students leaving poor performing schools, and teaching to the test.  While assessing student yearly may let one see overall growth or decline the results are not received quick enough or often enough to effect teaching practices at the moment. Effective assessment should be on going to the specific environment to determine what is working or not and the teacher should adjust to meet the needs to produce true improvement. Teaching students how to answer to the test does not develop the analytical skills needed in today globally society.  Ken Kay, President and founder of the Partnership on 21^st Century Skills, defined five skills needed to succeed; critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication, and global awareness.  If these are the skills needed to succeed should we not teach and engage student in activities that foster that growth?  The standards we set must include these elements.  Teaching to standardized tests, that many teachers must do, does not provide the opportunities to foster these skills and encourage creativity. The United States has no national standards, but each state decides their own standards.  In the countries that are outperforming the U.S. academically such as China, Finland, and Singapore there are strong national standards.  Andreas Schleicher, Head Analyst of OECD comments it is not as much the environment that a child is in but the clear standards of what is expected and the quality of teaching.  These higher performing countries do not tell teachers what to teach but encourages creativity, accountability, and provides good support systems for them.  The emphasis in the U.S. should be in training and supporting good teaching.  Unfortunately teachers in the U.S. are not given the importance they should for the job they must accomplish. Good teachers often leave to teach in lower paying jobs in private schools so they can teach they way they want to or they leave the profession altogether.  Students and their parents also seek out private schools to get the quality of teaching they provide.  When a school is low performing it is not the low performing students that leave but the successful ones seeking better schools.

            Let us hope as the government gets set to readdress NCLB the emphasis is on good teaching standards that prepare our students for the global world. 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/category/video/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSTzLlLQx3c