No Child Left Behind

[montanto]

Subject: No Child Left Behind
Message:
OK, I didn't see the SOTU, but I started reading it shortly after. I know I'm just picking on one of the many pieces of bullshit here, but the NCLB thing blew my mind, so I thought I'd share some things that many non-teachers probably don't know.

1. I can't find any real, statistical evidence of improvement based on NCLB. I can say that we have made improvements at my school (an inner city school in Los Angeles Unified School District), and that some others in the district have also (while others have lost ground), but I can't see how we can necessarily attribute those changes to NCLB. We have also pushed to institute Small Learning Communities, which break our huge 4000+ student campus into more manageable bits, in which the students feel less isolation and anonymity and more inclusion. Inclusion, not standards, get the students to come to class and participate. Participation is education.

2. NCLB did indeed force a "raise" in standards, but there were standards before, and many teachers had higher expectations than the old standards anyway. On the other hand, some teachers don't meet standards and never will. There are some real jerks in this profession, but NCLB doesn't address that. NCLB measures the school, not the teacher, and punishes the good with the bad if the numbers don't improve.

-snip-

"Five years ago, we rose above partisan differences to pass the No Child Left Behind Act — preserving local control, raising standards in public schools, and holding those schools accountable for results. And because we acted, students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=51...

-snip-

"We can lift student achievement even higher by giving local leaders flexibility to turn around failing schools … and by giving families with children stuck in failing schools the right to choose something better. We must increase funds for students who struggle — and make sure these children get the special help they need. And we can make sure our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, and our country is more competitive, by strengthening math and science skills. The No Child Left Behind Act has worked for America’s children — and I ask Congress to reauthorize this good law."

3. Local leaders know anything about running a school? Being in a classroom? How to "turn one around?" Schools are under constant threat of district, state, and federal intervention for not meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) numbers. AYP goals become increasingly difficult to meet as the school improves, keeping the school on the shit list, and the faculty in disarray.

4. Parents of under performing students in under performing schools have the "right to choose something better." Yes: they are free to choose an expensive private school. Hey, take on a third job!

5. "We must increase funds . . ." Increase funds? Why don't you just FUND it? It hasn't been fully funded yet. In '06 $22.75 Billion authorized and only 13.3 disbursed. Before NCLB Title 1 was budgeted and funded. * promised a huge increase in funds for NCLB and then never bothered to fund the promise, though the standards and consequences were mandated and applied! Teachers toil away with ever increasing class sizes, ever increasing demand for responsibility from without, while trying to think up clever ways to raise money to support programs that work and are no part of NCLB.

http://www.aft.org/topics/nclb/funding.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=51...

Struggling students need more direct contact. 40 students in an English Learners' class is not direct contact, in fact, it's almost impossible. The smaller the class is, the smaller the learning community, the more success in the student, the less strain on the teacher. But that takes money. If we fund these programs, decrease class sizes, we can reach the struggling student. IF. If education was a priority we would fund it, and that's not part of NCLB.

*, keep your letters and give us the money!

[flying_wahini]

1. That's no Dime left behind.....

nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. No Child Left a Dime

[montanto]

19. There it is!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. LOL I stole it off a bumper sticker

:evilgrin:

[montanto]

26. !!

:evilgrin:

[Kajsa]

2. 40 students in an ELD class is

double the size it should be!

Right now, I'm finishing up a long term sub assignment
where I am teaching an ELD 1 class of 23 students.
That class is start from the beginning ELD 1.
We don't have enough visual aids, charts and such in
the class. I am buying them myself.

Yes, let's see them fully fund this program and reduce
class size before there are any expectations of higher
API scores.

[montanto]

5. . . . buying them myself.

Right. That's the other thing. When do we get to write off what we spend to fill in the blanks? My wife and I are both teachers, we spend thousands (yes) of dollars every year filling in the state/fed. budget gaps, while big corporations get public funding for projects yielding private profit. Make them pay their f*ng taxes.

:mad:

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. I had to bring my own DVD player from home

My district bought a new reading program for $9 MILLION. There are videos that go with it and the idiots ordered DVDs. But we have VCRs in our classrooms, not DVD players.

Plus we only got one set of the DVDs per school so we had to violate copyright laws so every teacher could have a set.

[greenbriar]

3. check this out

the true result of NCLB
I teach 7th grade in a middle school. Social Studies

My smallest class is 27 my largest is 32

the math and english classes have a max of 12 so because we spend money for more math and english teachers, we cut the budget for SS teachers.

[montanto]

6. Yes,

This is also the case in High School here. Ninth and eleventh grade math/English classes are "limited" to 20/1, but these classes often climb to 30/1 anyway, and the SS teachers are on the warpath (and rightfully so) with 40/1 in their classes. 1. Not enough money, but: 2. not enough space either. But, as I said in OP, the scramble for space and money to keep classes small keeps us all in disarray. Good luck.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Count your blessings

We no longer teach social studies.

[erinlough]

4. Thanks for saying what all of us in the field know.

I talk to parents all the time who still don't know what NCLB is, or does. Heck the parents at my school still don't know how we are funded. You put the case out in a readable and understandable way. Thanks again!

[montanto]

7. You're welcome.

Unfortunately, teachers and their plight aren't very glamorous to the masses, and when bush says "more money for education" they assume that there WAS money in the first place. :hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. 1. You are right. There is no data to support real improvement

because of NCLB. And I think the stress it creates would negate any improvement anyway.

2. We not only had standards in Missouri, but we had a state test that far exceeded the one we had to replace it with due to NCLB 'standards'. So NCLB has actually lowered accountability in my state.

3. Local control is GONE. That is one of the worst things about this insane law. We do know what is best for our kids but this law takes away our opportunity to meet their needs since we are so busy meeting national and state standards instead.

AYP is a joke. Did you know they raise the floor on it every year? So if your school didn't make it last year, it will have to work even harder to make it this year since it is even higher. Eventually (by 2012?) AYP means that 100% of your kids have reached a proficient level. YES, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. I have taught for nearly 30 years and can testify that no way will any school have 100% of kids at grade level (or whatever your state standard is). So even that severely retarded child who can't talk or maybe can't hold a pencil or write his name or count to 3 will be expected to work at the same level as every other kid in his grade.

LIFE IS A BELL CURVE! Some of us are smarter and some are average and some are below average. Yet, we are expected to ignore that and make sure all of our kids achieve at the same level???

The other thing about AYP that absolutely infuriates me is that it doesn't mean diddly squat to the suburban school that have no (or only a few) minority kids, free lunch kids or kids who don't speak English. Remember, they only look at the AYP of the subgroups before they decide to take funding away. So if a school gets no federal funding (Title I) and their test scores don't reach that AYP platform, NOTHING HAPPENS. If a school doesn't have subgroups, NOTHING HAPPENS.

Those of us who teach in low income schools need to be screaming from the rooftops about the unfairness of this one aspect of this goddamed law. SCREAMING!!

Sorry, suburban teachers and those of you who teach in non subgroup schools, but you have no idea how much pressure we are under because of this. No idea at all. Losing Title I funding is absolutely devastating.

4. This just opens the door for their precious vouchers.

5. I teach special ed, which has NEVER been adequately funded. Since 1974, it has been a horrible unfunded mandate. So I don't expect to see NCLB funded appropriately either.

[montanto]

9. Thanks for posting, , ,

You made many points that I wanted to elaborate on, but didn't know if there was an audience. I did mention that meeting AYP gets more difficult every year, even if you don't meet, which is really important for people to know. Its easy to go from the 25th percentile to 30th, etc, but much more difficult to go from 95th to 96th and, as you say, approaches the impossible. But we MUST ACHIEVE 100%. Yes!

I'm at a school with a pop. largely Latino (from a variety of countries), but also Armenian, Russian, Pakistani, Moroccan, Chinese, Korean, Philippino, African American, White, ?, special ed. OK, lets make all those sub groups go up at once, or we fail!

And yes, they do move the target every year just before they publish results! It would be really funny if it didn't make you so damn :mad: :nuke: !

And yes the special ed. mandate is an unfunded, unsupervised, ignored stepchild that must also achieve 100% success.

Burn NCLB!

BTW: gonna be in D.C. fri/sat?

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. YES I am going to DC

Are you??

[montanto]

15. Yep, flying in fri a.m. and

will be at Hawk and Dove friday eve for the D.U. meetup!! See you there!:hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Cool!

I won't get there till 10:30 or 11:00. My plane lands at 10pm.

[porphyrian]

10. I'll kick that. - n/t

[montanto]

16. Thanks. nt

[Kerrytravelers]

14. Excellent! K&R

:kick:

[montanto]

17. Wow, thank you!! nt

[Kerrytravelers]

20. I'm in education, too. And I've seen the disaster we call NCLB.

I'm in the Los Angeles area, as well, but not in LAUSD.

[erinlough]

21. One more thing that everyone on this board and everywhere else...

should be aware of is that for special education students two federal laws collide. The IDEA guidelines for special education say that we must have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for every child in special education every year. At that meeting we spend about an hour going over tests, taking parent info, getting regular education input. We then develop a special educational plan for every child in special ed. This is a good thing in my opinion, and I take great pride in making these meetings as meaningful and appropriate as I can for my students.

When the state tests come around, mandated by NCLB, all that goes out the window and our special education students must master the same test, even though we know they have different learning abilities! This is what drives me crazy (and that is putting it mildly). Very low performing, mentally challenged, students may qualify for an alternate test in my state but a school can only have 1% of it's special ed students qualify.

So here is my learning disabled student, sitting at a test for 8th grade, with a 5th grade reading level. It is so cruel. I have had kids cry, even in 8th grade. I hate, yes hate, the people who have pushed for this, and I don't hate anyone normally.

[Odin2005]

22. Methinks it was intentional.

NCLB is set up to make schools miss the mark. All part of the plan to drown government in a bathtub...

[montanto]

24. Good point. Failure is success,

as we see in Iraq. Its the same gambit. School failure requires "remediation" which comes in the form of companies (govt approved!! or govt mandated) pushing a product or process that is going to cost big bucks to introduce, train people to use, update, pay for books, revise as needed, but will ultimately produce the desired effect of: oops, it didn't work. We failed again. Time to have gov't push the next big ticket "remediation" on us. It's like divorce. The attorneys win. Iraq, big business wins. The people with the highest stake, lives, lose.

Any idea how much money LAUSD spends on textbooks every time they modify the standards? Buy stock in McDougal Littel!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Google 'bill bennett public schools fail'

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/1/105329/697

Makes me so fucking angry I can't even post it here anymore.

Those goddamn repukelican bastards.

[montanto]

23. Yes, , ,

I did S.E. for one year, but before NCLB. I have two close colleagues who do S.E. now. The I.E.P. process is time consuming, but important for those kids because its so hands on and interactive, and it establishes a separate and realistic standard of achievement for that child. The NCLB mandate really does throw that "out the window" by demanding that the student suddenly operate on a level that all (teacher,parent,child,counselor) agree is not theirs. Cruel, yes. And so are the benchmarks for "regular" E.L. students when they might have one year of English by the time they get to ninth grade. We can't ALL have the same aptitude.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. I teach special ed too

and I am with you 100% on this. NCLB is especially cruel to our kids. As if their lives weren't hard enough.

[Thothmes]

30. NCLB

What happens to a school district that tells the U.S. Dept of Education to take their NCLB program and shove it? What power, other than the promise of Federal dollars, does the U.S. Dept of Education have to enforce the NCLB program?

[erinlough]

31. As I understand it there is no "opt out"

The funds are only one of the clubs, the other is a state takeover of our schools. Administrators fired, teachers fired, State take over of curriculum and board dismantled. This of course in an effort to "restore local control". UP is indeed DOWN in this law whose only real purpose is to destroy a free appropriate public education forever. Heck, even parents do not have the right to exempt kids in my state.