The United States Congress has a decision to make. Will public education continue to be a viable institution responsible for educating the masses for participation in our democratic republic, or will Congress reauthorize NCLB and turn public education into a privatized worker delivery system that assures the United States will be the land of economic apartheid?
As a public school teacher, I see first hand the devastating effects of NCLB over the last five years. There is a narrowing of the curriculum. Science and social studies get short shrift because they are not tested at every grade level every year. Other subjects that are getting lost include music, art, and physical education. It is among these electives that students find their passion and the most inviting reason to keep coming to school. It is also in areas outside of testing that students find their love of learning that will last a lifetime. However, when schools are turned into test-preparation factories, and teachers turned into Test Preparation Agents for the State, that love of learning doesn’t suffer, it is extinguished.
One of the scandalous aspects of the current “high stakes” testing culture is the targeting of specific students whose score is near the cut score for the next level of proficiency. In Colorado, those students whose score is just below the “partially proficient” receive particular attention so that a small improvement in these scores will result in dramatic increase in the entire school’s score as measured for “adequate yearly progress.” This is a sacrifice of the many for a meaningless standardized test score. The only thing accomplished so far with the current testing regime is higher test scores. There is no evidence of improved learning. According to education researcher Alfie Kohn, it is likely that higher scores mean less quality learning is taking place. Furthermore, I believe that public educators wish to create intrinsically motivated, life-long learners. According to basic motivation theory research, the environment currently present will eliminate the internal satisfaction of learning.
The entire “high-stakes” testing regimen that is now passing for school reform does nothing to improve education, but rather undermines quality learning. The requirement of schools to have EVERY child reading and doing math on “grade level” is unachievable. And despite teachers doing all they can do to provide quality learning opportunities for their students, not every child will demonstrate grade level proficiency (important to note that grade level originally was the average of all students at a particular level, and thus HALF were below grade level). But I expect that in 2014, when the ridiculous “100%” proficiency is not achieved, those who refer to public schools as “government schools” and other detractors of public education will scream that public education needs to be privatized.
Recently, Arthur F. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, said that the business community is the primary consumer of the U. S. education system. His comment both makes me sick, and explains the draconian actions being foisted on the public education system by the Business Roundtable under the guise of “No Child Left Behind.” Public education is not a product to be consumed. The business community needs to understand that they are the benefactors of the education system that prepares students for participation in our democratic republic. The education system is not in place to provide multi-national corporations a minimum wage worker delivery system. It is rather the cornerstone of the creation of a well-educated electorate able to participate in our society.
“No Child Left Behind” treats teachers as second-class professionals not to be trusted. In addition to my education (a B. A. in English, an M. A. in Physical Education, and an Ed. S. in Education Leadership), my practice of the art of teaching has given me the skills, knowledge, and experience to make sound pedagogical judgments about my students’ skills and abilities and how best to proceed to enhance those skills and abilities. A set of standardized test scores are first not timely enough to help guide instruction. Second, they do not provide information I do not already know obtained from the wide and various activities that are completed in my class. I am with my students for approximately 180 days over the school year, and there is no possible way that a single standardized test can make a better judgment about my students than I can.
If public education is going to emerge from the Dark Ages imposed by NCLB, it must not be merely adjusted. The entire piece of legislation needs to be eliminated. This is the only way the United States will remain a leader in the world. I urge you to consider the ramifications of the reauthorization of “No Child Left Behind” and vote to repeal this hideous legislation.
I look forward to your earliest reply.
Sincerely,
Sean Michael Black, M. A., Ed. S.
posted by Sean Black @ 6:14 PM
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