No Child Left Behind: Current Criticism | By Ben
A post to the Interesting People mailing list highlighted this editorial by a Wyoming teacher in the Casper Star Tribune.
This criticism echoes similar concerns that we've discussed in our Lone Star Democracy meetings. "No Child Left Behind" has unrealistic standards, it emphasizes testing over learning, and it is underfunded. This also adds a useful point: this act holds teachers accountable for results that aren't completely in their control, since success requires cooperation from students and parents. I think this is due to the GOP's view of the world as a top-down corporation, rather than as a group of communities where you need to share a common goal among disparate stakeholders. To quote:
Because no lawmaker wants to try to enact a piece of legislation that would hold parents accountable for their child's achievement in school, the law was passed that made the educators solely accountable. This isn't fair and it isn't realistic. Education needs to be seen as a table with four legs: teachers, school administrators, parents and students. If any one of these legs doesn't hold up its weight, the table will fall over and there won't be a flat surface for the education to build on.