First Lady Follies

First Lady Follies

Laura Bush says that, come what may, No Child Left Behind will be a part of her husband's legacy. Absolutely. Some of us think it will be right up there with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, homeless Iraqis and Afghanis, Blackwater, and the shredded Constitution. She should talk to David Root.

Root is the principal of Rocky River Middle School in Cleveland. His school received an "Excellent" rating from the state and also made AYP.

And did Root root it up? No. He wrote a 2-page, single-spaced apology and sent it to a columnist at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

He's sorry he spent thousands of dollars on test materials, practice tests, postage and costs for test administration.

Sorry that his teachers spent less time teaching American history because he test questions are mostly about other countries.

Sorry for pulling kids away from art, music, and gym classes they love so they could bone up on test-taking strategies.

Sorry he has to give a test where he and teachers can't clarify any questions, make any comments to help in understanding, or share the results so students could actually learn from their mistakes.

Sorry that the integrity of his teachers is publicly tied to one test.

Sorry he didn't suspend a student for assaulting another student because that student would have missed test days.

Sorry he didn't strictly enforce attendance because absences count against the school on the State Report Card.

Sorry for making decisions on assemblies, field trips, and musical performances based on how the lost time might affect test scores.

Sorry that he kept students in school if they became sick during the test because if they can't finish the test they automatically fail (test publishers have for years passed out instructions on what to do if a kid throws up on an answer sheet).

For publicly identifying some students as "at risk" and putting them in groups so they could practice their test skills.

Sorry he made his focus as a principal helping his teachers do better on tests, not on helping them teach kids better.
Readers will note that Root did some pretty dumb things. Sharon Nichols and Dave Berliner would probably say it's another example of what they wrote about in their book about high-stakes testing titled, Collateral Damage.

Comments

[SeriousBlack]

Well, what do you expect from ANY program cooked up by the Bush administration?

Every single thing they have ever done is bull you-know-what.

From Bush flying over Louisiana during Katrina to NCLB, it's all smoke and mirrors to disguise the Republican s.o.p. of doing NOTHING and accomplishing NOTHING.

After all, when the fundamental principle of your party is that the government should DO nothing (except for building up the defense industry to dizzying heights and attacking other countries for no good reason, that is (because then they can scare the bejeezus out of the American people and that's the only way they can hold to power, doncha know)), then nothing they will do.

[BBackSoon]

NCLB is a sham. Instead of teaching kids to learn they are forced to teach kids how to take that years test.

I guess a stupid populous is easier to control?

[hopeless277]

I'm just glad these kids are being taught good, old fashioned, Republican values. I'm sure it will help them to live on the streets in their later years.