(Eric Frey)
Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige and former Senator Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) debated the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act Monday night. What emerged from their discussion was a reiteration of concerns regarding NCLB standards of adequate yearly progress of schools, teacher quality and standardized testing to measure achievement of schools and students. The editorial board believes these issues, as expressed, point to the problems of NCLB and that further reform is needed if the U.S. educational system is to be improved.
Daschle's primary concern was the lack of funding for the demands NCLB places on schools, which are expected to meet many new standards for teaching with the limited resources they possess. This reality has made it difficult to implement NCLB, causing some schools to reallocate funds from cultural programs, like music and the arts, toward efforts to help ensure higher performance on standardized tests.
These tests are a significant problem of NCLB. They harm education by forcing teachers to focus attention toward an exam centered on facts rather than more important critical thinking skills. Teachers are limited in their ability to be creative with the curriculum - instead instructors must focus on teaching the test to secure their own teaching position and to help ensure good school performance.
Finally, by mandating standardized testing, the federal government is trying to impose a one-size-fits-all set of expectations on a diverse group of school districts with different needs and strengths. For example, some schools must teach students who speak languages other than English.
Also, holding special education students to the same standards is illogical. Students with learning disabilities cannot be expected to meet achievement standards of other students. This expectation punishes schools that try to help special education students and encourages them to force these students into specific special education schools.
Paige emphasized the fact that increased funding will not necessarily improve the effectiveness of NCLB or ensure that spending is efficient. He said that beyond funding, there are other NCLB issues to be concerned with, but was not specific about what should be changed.
The editorial board believes testing to measure progress is important, but that standardized tests that measure achievement should be altered to examine critical thinking skills and a student's capacity for learning. Also, as Daschle suggested, schools should measure individual student achievement during the year rather than looking at the achievement of the entire school. Finally, NCLB should include incentives to reward teachers in problem school districts, rather than imposing difficult demands on them.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.