Everyone Claims Victory on Education: Who to Believe?

America's "report card," the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), tabulated by the U.S. Department of Education, came out recently and everyone -- on every side of the No Child Left Behind debate -- declared victory.

Overall. the NAEP claimed math test scores are up, reading scores are stagnant, and eighth grade reading has slightly declined.

George W. Bush said the numbers -- test scores from a sample of over 700,000 students nationwide -- looked outstanding, and declared (with suspect grammar), "Childrens do learn when standards are high are results are measured."

Democrat Edward Kennedy, who aggressively pushed for No Child Left Behind's original passage, said in a press release, "These national test scores show that the hard work of teachers, parents and students in Massachusetts is paying off... We'll do all we can at the national level to improve the No Child Left Behind law so that it works better for our teachers, school children and schools... These scores are reason to celebrate, but they're also cause for resolve in finishing the job."

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing was not so excited. Organization leader Monty Neill argued, "NAEP shows educational improvement across the nation slowed significantly since NCLB went into effect. This happened despite the fact that curriculum narrowed in many schools to little more than test preparation in reading and math. Gains from 2000 to 2003, before NCLB went into effect, were significantly greater than they were from 2003 to 2007, when NCLB was the law. That deflates the administration's claims that federal law is driving school improvement."

Monty Neill's point about the NCLB-inspired narrowing school curriculum for test preparation, supported by a major recent report by the Center on Education Policy, is critical. No Child Left Behind has drastically changed the way students spend their school days. Has the elevation of focus on testing been worth it?

Who should we believe as the No Child Left Behind reauthorization debate rages? Do the Bush Administration or Senator Kennedy still have credibility on this issue? The "Miller-McKeon NCLB Discussion Draft," currently circulating in Congress actually expands the culture of high-stakes testing. Now is a pivotal moment for citizens' voices to be heard on this policy.

Dan Brown is a teacher and the author of the new memoir "The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle."

Comments

[rlehman]

Shortly after I began elementary school my father had a conversation with a prominent school board member about improving education in our tiny textile town. He was told there wasn't any point in changing anything because most of the kids only needed to learn to follow directions, read "a bit" and learn basic arithmetic. "Anymore than that and they won't be happy working in the mills and then what will we do?" When my Dad asked about this man's own children and their education the board member allowed as how he had the means to make sure they had piano lessons and such and of course, "The boys would be learning most of what they needed to know on the golf course." Turning out robots who excel only at multiple choice tests and allowing others to think for them isn't anything new.

[jeskiley]

Depressing.

[Dunnage]

Look, we're just trying to have kids add and subtract a little. Which means they need to be able to read at say the 3rd grade level. So testing is great -- now we know if they can do this.

[muliebrity]

Who to believe? Ask the teachers. They will tell you that No Child Left Behind has failed miserably!

[hmmmmmer]

Childrens do learn when you teach the test to them. That is all NCLB is doing. Creativity, the arts, independent thinking, discussion, all the things kids really need in real life are getting lost so we can make sure they can know trivial things that you could look up on the internet if you were truly interested.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

And let's not forget that it was a republican administration that brought big government into our states in order to control our curriculum.

republicans, the party of big government with nothing to show for it but scandal, disaster and debacle.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

No Childrens Learn Bubkis - needs to be thrown out all together.

This program has cost the students in my wife's school valuable projects that included them learning history and strengthening ties between elderly generations and today's youth (eighth grade) - through a combined history/language arts project that had to be cut from the curriculum because of the sheer amount of time the test-taking requires and the amount of time that has now been mandated by the district for teaching to the test.

So who cares if society and families lose - their test scores are up and the students seem more mindless than ever. This fall many of them asked - "Our test scores only reflect on the teachers, right?" Yeah, they know the score - interestingly enough some very high-level students failed to complete the test at all or showed high levels of anomalies in their answers (everything marked 'C') - it appears the students may have the last laugh at their own expense.

[Kansas Evans]

NCLB needs to be reworked. There's no doubt about it. Kennedy and Bush have no credibility, especially if the results, show "Childrens do learn . . ."

The first thing that needs to see the scrap heap are those yearly, standardized tests. Teachers are teaching to the tests, turning children in robots and learning a chore. Their young minds aren't being tested, neither students' nor teachers'. And states are distorting results by controlling the tests anyway.

The whole plan needs to be scrapped and re"imaginated."