Mashing-up NCLB -- Enough Already!

This week, The Huffington Post, Yahoo!, and Slate are co-sponsoring the first-ever online "candidate mashup," another way in which technology is helping us to access and judge the presidential candidates. Those Web sites asked users to submit questions for the Democratic candidates on any issue and then ranked the top three issues that Charlie Rose will ask them about. The videos will be shared on Friday, and users will be able to edit them to highlight differences among particular candidates on specific issues.

Education made the list, coming in as the # 3 issue right behind Iraq and health care. In fact, education beat out, in descending order, energy, the environment, the economy, immigration, terrorism, abortion, and gay marriage. Voters have long been ready to hear more from the candidates about education -- back in July, it was the number one issue about which voters submitted questions for the CNN/YouTube debate.

Here's the thing though -- I'm sick of the kind of education questions the candidates are being asked. Cheesy softballs (like the "Who was your favorite teacher?" bit from the CNN/YouTube Debate) or predictable check the box-type questions about the existing No Child Left Behind law do little to inform us of what these candidates plan to do about the crisis in America's schools.

Mostly I'm tired of hearing about No Child Left Behind. There's no real debate there for the Democratic presidential candidates. As Gov. Roy Romer points out at ED in '08, we've already heard that question asked of Democratic candidates a number of times and we know that they will all jump to attack NCLB.

I can already imagine the mashup Huffington readers will get to make from a NCLB question.

Charlie Rose: Do you support the existing version of the No Child Left Behind Law?

Candidate # 1: No.

Candidate # 2: Certainly not. I blame the Republicans. Down with NCLB.

Candidate # 3: Hell no! I hate it! Terrible law. Here's what I love: teacher's unions!

Candidate # 4: NCLB is a disgrace. Too many children continue to be left behind, we don't have qualified teachers in the classrooms, and more testing isn't going to fix any of that.

Candidate # 1: That's what I meant to say.

Candidate # 5: The Law-That-Must-Not-Be-Named must be destroyed!

Candidate # 6: NCLB is worse than Britney Spears at the VMAs.

Charlie Rose: Time to move on.

Candidates #7 and # 8: We never get to talk.

But Americans already know that NCLB isn't working in its present state. Consider the facts:

Six thousand kids dropped out of school yesterday, and another six thousand will drop out today, and tomorrow, and the day after that.

Seventy percent of our 8th graders aren't proficient in reading, and by the end of 8th grade, what passes for the U.S. math curriculum is two years behind the math being studied by 8th graders in other countries.

And I'm not just talking about minority students or low-income schools -- out of 29 countries participating in a 2003 assessment, America's 15-year-olds ranked 24th in math; 24th in problem-solving; 18th in science; and 15th in reading. Even America's top math students rank 23rd out of 29 countries when compared with top students elsewhere in the world.

While the candidates pander, founder, and stomp up and down about NCLB, we are losing our economic foothold to China, India, and Singapore.

Education issues aren't only about teachers and schools, test scores and politics. They're about families, income mobility, job security, economic competitiveness and making sure our kids have the skills they'll need to face the global challenges that are already rising to meet them.

This online debate, the first of its kind is an opportunity for voters to cut and paste, to choose what they want to hear about and who they want to hear it from. But that's going to be awfully hard if all they get is more of the same, and none of it good. Let's cut the lip-service about NCLB and mash-up some answers to questions that matter.

Comments

[InofTouch]

It be better if we flunk a kid once an awhile...sound bad but it meant hey kid, shape up or ship out.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Education is what you get from reading a bunch of textbooks and having someone quiz you on the amount of information you derived and maintained from your readings, as well as your capacity to then utilize that information in some type of practical situation.

If teachers are basically playing host to hyperextended daycare, or if the K-12 system honestly doesn't amount to more than a jobs program, then the results are going to be less-than-­satisfacto­ry.

Computers are tireless tutors. I think there should be a nationwide effort to have a standardized, externally audited and evaluated, digital-based school system, one that even offers home schooling for disabled/parentally disinclined students. The future is now, the little one-room schoolhouse is part of history,
nobody using coal for a pencil anymore, time to get jiggy with it, manage costs, and teach kids valuable and usable skills and provide them the
informational content you'd associate with a well-rounded education. The digital classroom
is a good cost-saving concept, too, and can theoretically host multitudes of students that would otherwise not be able to fit in a standard
school facility. I'll bet Japan's doing it...

[bethinCary]

Perhaps you are not concerned about NCLB becasue you may not have kids in school.
I do-and I'm concerned about it.
when first implemented I saw kids who were taught to the test-in a singularly focused method of teaching. I don't think all kids learn in the same way-so I think the amount of book study should be countered with hands-on/project type work.I also don't think it provided for a well-rounded educational platform-ignoting those students who are creative-rather than analytical.
The biggest problem I have is that all of the "booklearning" does not do enough to connect these studies with the world. I saw a decrease in maps, for example,in book tutorials. I, myself, being middle-aged went back to school to a community college. I was shocked by the lack of worldview perspective or even how the studies related to the world in terms of opportunity. Most just wanted to learn just enough to survive that 9-5 grind and make a decent living-without thinking of how the science/technology COULD be used to further the world.

[Semaj51]

Education is based on a triad - the student, the parents, and the teacher. If all three work together, than there is no limit to the advancement of our children.... But let one leg fail, and its very difficult to learn.

If the student does not want to learn, because of social prssures, fear, etc., than it really doesn't matter how much money is thrown at the problem. The student must be encouraged to "want" to learn, and that begins with their parents and is supported by the community.

If the parents do not actively support their child at school, ask any teacher how hard it is for both the teacher and student to succeed.

If the teacher provides inadequate learning enviornment/desires to their student, than that student will fail to the sidelines.

Remember how the schools were before the NCLB started, way too many children were "graduating" with very inadequate skills and knowledge. The NCLB was an attempt to instill a minimum goal for the student, teacher, and school to obtain. Its time to look at the NCLB program and take the best parts, discard the bad, and develop a new method to improve our education program. We have been throwing money after money into this mess and still find it wanting. Maybe its time to cut the fat from the administration side of the schools and get more teachers.

[Bladernr1001]

How about forget the NCLB, the US Dept of Ed and all the other BS federal programs that have no value added and return the management of education to a more local level?

And you are right, money has been shown time and again that it is not the forcing fuction to improve the system. The share of the ed budget that goes for admin has grown from about 5% to over 25% the last 40 or so years. Ed budgets have tripled even accounting for inflation in the last 15 years.

So let's ask the presidential candidates how quickly they plan to dismantle the federal education apparatus....not how they are going to expand (to our detriment)it even more.

[Bladernr1001]

So what do you want a top level politician or bureaucrat to do about this? More NCLB? Less?

All of this has come about due to social engineering. The idea that germed in the 50's and 60's that government could force an equality of outcome. Well, here is the result of all that social engineerin­g.....fail­ing public schools (among many other failures). The failures of our public schools were actually apparent way back in 1983. We have applied numerous big government solutions to turn things around since then....and things have only become worse. Maybe it is time to try more local/free market solutions and quit fooling ourselves that we can force some kind of equality of outcome between rich and poor, black and white, etc, etc.

Other suggestions:

1) Drop the emphasis on "self-esteem" and return emphasis to achievement. The self-esteem movement did not fool the kids (a kid still knows his/her relative ranking no matter how mamy empty praises he/she receives) and did not improve performance.

2) Shut down the US Dept. of Education. Top down management of schools has contributed to the failure by forcing one size fits all solutions on our school systems. Schools are a local function at their essence.

3) Get rid of Teachers Unions. What have they done for the students? Nothing. Shoot, what they really done for teachers....not much that I can see.

[expanse]

Schools and teachers have to be empowered. Too often, discipline in the classroom is horrendous. Its not the teachers fault necessarily. There is only so much a school can do to punish( or encourage) a student. Most teachers must deal with extremely disruptive, violent students in every class. Give those schools and teachers power to remove extremely unruly students. Alternative schools( that are quality) should be built for these students. They would still have access to a quality education but away from otherwise decent students. Place them on a curriculum pace that allows them to go at their own pace( many who are unruly have fallen behind their peers due to failing, this gives them a chance to catch up). Once parents and students realize schools and teachers aren't playing around and that they WILL behave or else then and only then will things change. It is ALL about the discipline.

[Bladernr1001]

There is one solution for this....but you won't like it. Who ever said school had to be mandatory? The disruptive ones are usually those who do not want to be there in the first place.

make school voluntary.

i know what libs don't like about that though. It goes counter to the idea of "equality of outcome".

[emjay1954]

We should ask ourselves what NCLB is really about. In the end, it is about destroying public support for public schools and siphoning the funds into for-profit corporations. Think I'm being melodramatic? Check out the law. The consequences for failing to meet the goals is to use "outside sources" at the expense of the schools. These outside sources are companies that helped to write the law.

[Bladernr1001]

Read my comments below.....No top teir, one size fits all solution is ever going to work.

Schools are a local concern. Even the state level is too high.

[Aunt Shecky]

A very witty posting, Mr. Lampkin, about a topic for which there is much lip service and little real action.
For what it's worth, I maintain that there would be more education funds available if so much money weren't being siphoned into the top-level "departments of education" among the various states. In my state many of the workers in the State Education Dept earn salaries that begin at $100,000 per year. Nobody knows exaclt what they do for that kind of dough.
Also, why does each high school need so many administrators? A Principal, a Vice-Principal (one heartbeat away from the top), an Assistant Principal, an Assistant Vice-Principal and so on. How many people do we need to walk the hallways looking stern?
And let's rearrange the priorities. Most of the local news stories around here are about school dress codes! Meeting after meeting, school boards discuss how high a hemline can be among other trivial issues. What kind of hat will be allowed? Let's worry about what's IN the kid's head, not what's atop it!

[BBackSoon]

I agree whole-heartedly. In my little burgh we see the education salary ranges in the paper once a year. I saw one of my daughters favorite teachers ever, a 20+ year first grade teacher that was still passionate about teaching little minds. She was making between 30k and 40k. And the Principals at the three schools were making around 70k and the Administrator was making over 99k. And this is a district that has an average graduating class of 60 students. That is not a type-o. Average Graduating class is Sixty Students. What could an administrator possibly do to earn that much money when they are responsible for around 750 students?

We live in a Wal-Mart world. We want everything cheap. Do you realize that we pay most cops and most teachers a near poverty level salary? How about those school bus drivers? Would you normally let your child ride with someone that can’t do better that a part time job making under $10 an hour?

[gillespie]

What really needs to be mashed up are all education bureaucracies, state and federal, as well as education programs within universities. A mastery of a given subject ought to do, especially if autonomy is returned to local communities who are perfectly capable of fashioning entrepreneurial solutions. Then, with any luck, such inanities as mainstream­ing/inclus­ion, trying to inculcate self-esteem (which really only comes from achievement, not silly pats on the back for trying), and guilt-ridden muticultural politically correct curricula. If we are really lucky, the Western Canon will return in its full glory, but none of this will happen as long as stupid -isms flourish

[gillespie]

Funny stuff. In every place where the poor and disadvantaged have been given vouchers enabling them to take their children elsewhere, they have done so eagerly, yet you know better TxDem, you know better than the parents themselves. How ridiculously condescending.

[gillespie]

What really needs to be mashed up are all education bureaucracies, state and federal, as well as education programs withing university. A mastery of a given subject ought to do, especially if autonomy is returned to local communities who are perfectly capable of fashioning entrepreneurial solutions. Then, with any luck, such inanities as mainstream­ing/inclus­ion, trying to inculcate self-esteem (which really only comes from achievement, not silly pats on the back for trying), and guilt-ridden muticultural politically correct curricula. If we are really lucky, the Western Canon will return in its full glory, but none of this will happen as long as stupid -isms flourish.

http://denuded-heresies.blogspot.com/

[TexasDem0]

Teacher Merit Pay and school funding based on student test scores are the biggest frauds ever perpetrated against education.

Public schools take all students, not just the ones with affluent parents who emphasize and encourage education. They get the students who live in motels, hovels, and cars. They get students whose parents cannot speak English. They get students whose parents are drug abusers, drug dealers, in prison, or just absent. They get the students who are being raised by grandparents, other relatives, foster families, or public agencies.

These students present a greater challenge to the teacher, the classroom, and the system. They require greater resources to address the greater challenge. How do we address this? We punish the teachers and schools based on test scores. If every student had a similar home life, a similar background, it would be a more level playing field. Taken out of proper context, these test scores are meaningless.

The very schools that need the extra emphasis are the ones we punish. Ironically, most people call this a Christian nation while we turn our backs on the poor and disadvantaged.

On the other hand, what is the incentive to pursue higher education when the GOP’s corporate overlords are sending high tech jobs to India and China? Should a student get a graduate degree in Computer Science when the job prospects are slim?

[dadw5boys]

One day they will read a college study on how kids learn the best and go back to the 1950's form till the kids are in 4th grade with the Teacher in the front of the classroom and kids taking instruction and Teachers are paid Middle Income wages. Till then you have a mess.
Teacher are paid less than a lot of bartenders!
But as long as the income levels are skewed by removing more and more wealthy from their statictics they will never hold the good teachers.
TRUE MIDDLE CLASS INCOME IS $240,000.00 A YEAR but they don't want people to know that!

[Aunt Shecky]

You are right about the jobs being outsourced,
but we might be making a mistake in assuming that merely because a student is poor, disadvantaged, or comes from a "different background" --I hate that phrase!-- that he or she can't learn. The classic image of Abe Lincoln, educating himself above all odds, may be a myth, but there are plenty of motivated, hardworking kids who really give a damn about education. On the other hand, there are many rich, spoiled highly-advantaged young people out there who are dumber than a box of rocks.

[TexasDem0]

Aunt Shecky, It’s not that they can’t learn, it’s that they may come from an environment where education is not considered important, and that will influence their attitude toward education. They may also come from a background where higher education is financially out of the question. By the way, all of my post high school education was completed by attending night classes, up to a MS in Computer Science, just to see the job sent overseas.

[Camel54]

Amen, TexasDem, AMEN!

And let me just add to that the problem of parents who actively discourage their children from learning by constantly disrespecting teachers and the schools and doing nothing to discipline their children when that attitude is carried into the classroom and acted upon.

The day I hear a candidate tell people they need to stop speaking so horribly about their schools and start instilling a respectful attitude in their kids, start volunteering to help their kids' schools, start allowing discipline consequences at the school I will drop everything and go to work for that candidate, raise money for that candidate, hack those ridiculous voting machines for that candidate, you name it. It's not just the system failing the students; citizens are failing the system too. Personal responsibility plays no small part in this and there should be clearly laid out discipline plans and strong consequences for behavior issues. You can't teach those who want to learn in mad-house, and you can't capture the minds of those on the fence if you can't control the few ruining it for everyone else.

[steamboat]

I have volunteered (reading) and do you know what I have heard on four occasions: "Reading is a white thing."

[steamboat]

TexasDem, there is much truth to what you say. And the Bush Administration gets much (and rightfully so) of the blame...But Tex, are you aware that very much of NCLB is Teddy Kennedy's idea, his baby, as they say? So are you going to point any fingers at him?.....also, yeah, alot of students do have parents who speak a foreign language. But again Tex, are you aware tests such as the Iowa Standardized is BY LAW to be given in the language most comfortable with the child? Accomadations are suppose to be such and are. Someday all you folks PLEASE actually read the laws on the books. All children BY LAW are to get an education in the 'LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT'. I'm sorry, but the fault lies on more then just one side. In the Kozol article a few days back I brought my city, Chicago, and how the public schools are there.....Tex, in Chicago, there is never no money to keep a teacher for after-school tutoring. Or during his/her free hour during the scheduled day. Not enough money to have for various art, music, math, and science clubs. And so on. You get the picture. But Tex, do you know what they DO have enough money for? Why they have all kind of money to send sports teams not only out of state for games, but out of the country. Prosser High School basketball team played several games in England. Von Stueben High School traveled to your state (Texas) to play a game. Simeon High School played in Louisville and then later in New York City. I looked into it, it was paid by us taxpayers, not any car washes or bake sales. Oh yeah, as I mentioned before, the teachers union itself has plenty of money for political party (Democrats) conventions, banquets, seminars, and lobbyists, state-wide and all over the country. But they themselves aren't going to help 'foot the bill' so that a fellow teacher can tutor children after school or even during the school day itself on their free hour.

[TexasDem0]

steamboat, “Someday all you folks PLEASE actually read the laws on the books.”

While serving in the Marine Corps, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Political Science by attending night classes between deployments, transfers, and military duties. I then studied law at night school until my enlistment was completed and it was no longer feasible to work toward a law degree. So, yes, I understand the laws. What’s your legal training?

[TexasDem0]

steamboat, “Tex, in Chicago, there is never no money to keep a teacher for after-school tutoring.”

“Never no money,” but you’re an expert on education?