~Stacy's+Stances~

=//** Stacy's Stance **//=

__The 10th Anniversary of NCLB__
= = = = After reading so much about Diane Ravitch and the 10th anniversary of NCLB, I can’t help but stop and wonder why... Why is it that she had so much influence on the designing and implementation of NCLB under President Bush, but now that she has so much evidence that it is not working, the government isn’t listening?? I know both I am many fellow teachers have strong feelings against the push for assessment/ standardized testing movement. In the article, many points are made about the success that NCLB has made over the past ten years, but all I see around me are the negative results of teaching to the test. How can it be said that there has been a dramatic improvement in minority students when authentic education has been replaced with techniques and rote routines of preparing students from 3rd grade until high school to take tests? I love that Ravitch //now// refers to NCLB as a “death star,” leaving a devastating destructive path in our education system (AYP). Linda Darling- Hammond states, “The quest for 100 percent proficiency has focused attention on boosting scores, but it has also narrowed the curriculum, encouraged exclusions of struggling students, and undermined confidence in federal initiatives.” I agree with her that the governments need to supervise education is the reason teachers continue to teach to the test, knowing that those scores are a piece of your evaluation. If we keep the blinders of closing the achievement gap on, government will never understand why a gap exists! They need to support higher quality teaching and reinstate vocational education. = = In reflecting, I, with a small snippet of “I can’t believe that I am saying this” mentality am in agreement of one good thing that NCLB has created- a standard based curriculum and highly qualified teachers. But this is not a guarantee that all teachers will be great or work hard, just highly qualified! = =

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