Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests.
NCLB does not require teachers to teach to the test. That's a choice made by the teachers.
Perhaps you can quote the portion of the law that requires teachers to teach to the test.
Bt,
Perhaps YOU should visit classrooms before I even talk to you about this issue again. You refuse to listen to the people!
You would make a terrible politician.
That isn't practical for me , can't you just tell us why it is that NCLB forces teaching to the test and not mastery of the subject?
The fact that teachers and students are overly tested. The fact that results of those scores equate to high stakes that can sometimes equate to loss of jobs, not to mention stressed out children and teachers, with no support to improve FOR THE SAKE OF THE NCLB act.... is yes, a direct outcome of the NCLB bill. And yes, we have gone over this before. IT DOES NOT STATE THIS IN THE ACT ITSELF. But, something has to be changed. The outcomes are clearly crazy making and unfair. I can't wait to see how Obama makes such changes a reality. I don't know what he is going to do, yet. I will get that news when it comes and be back to report.
If a particular school does not fare well on certain tests, then the entire school is punished, unfairly. It's one thing to assist in support children and help teachers keep up to date and current. It's clearly another to mandate that the outcome of said tests hit a particular point or else the system is punished. . . Not meeting AYP, being put on probation...R1 RESTRICTION 1 etc. My god, the punishment itself is enough to make any system cheat! That's not what we do, and I hope to God that schools are not doing that, but if the leadership in ps systems are under a gun, consequently pushing their teachers to the point of panic, I would venture to guess that some teachers will probabnly teach to the test in order to keep from all of the stresses involved. Texas schools even went a step further and CHEATED in order to make the NCBL act work...FOR THEIR BUSH!
Of course, we don't teach the test, but we are restricted to teach exactly what is on the test. Period. Thus our kids are not receiving a decent well rounded education. We are forced to teach through scripted programs, etc.
Reading first schools, especially.
Previous to this NCLB law, (under Reagan's A Nation at Risk era) we were successful in providing children with a well rounded education. All subjects were taught. Now, only the three basic elements RRWR Come on! Would you like to send your child to a school that does not teach art, music, science and social studies?
If we teach all of those subjects, we lose time to teach the areas that are tested in order to BRING UP TEST SCORES....which is IN ORDER TO SATISFY the NCLB act, ultimately. Testing is nothing new. Accountability is nothing new. In fact, tests and assessments continue to "drive our instruction", if you will.
There were no punitive actions attached in those days, however.
Ok, sure, there are no punitive mandates stated in the NCLB, but it is implied that systems had better find a way to DO WHATEVER it takes to improve failing schools but at what cost?
Currently, all schools are judged according to the test scores, and yet there is little support for families who live in low economic areas. There is little support for the schools themselves. Instead there are pressures that do no one any good.
In the wealthier areas of our school district, for example,children fare better on tests, and are rewared accordingly. Not so for all children. Yet they are given the same criteria with no promises of more funding. IT takes money to teach.
The argument I stand for is change in the system. IF obama can find a way to make crucial changes within the act itself, to reduce the unnecessary stresses that are riping this educational system apart, good for him.
