Re: Mos U.S. Adults Want to Leave "No Child" Behind -- New National Poll

[aburke5054@aol.com]

The gap in achievement is precisely why we have NCLB and why we need it, at least in its wider outline.  The fact that "at-risk" children have too often been exposed to unmeritorious curriculum is precisely the reason that so many advocates for these children support NCLB. Trying to pin all the dysfunctional and inappropriate things schools do on NCLB may play well with anti-NCLB zealots, but the truth is that doing so is a colossal disservice to children and to parents and to public education. 

Art


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Peterson <jmpeterson@twmi.rr.com>
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 8:00 am
Subject: Re: [arn-l] Mos  U.S. Adults Want to Leave "No Child" Behind -- New National Poll










> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
> To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy
> <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>; rethinkaccountdc@yahoogroups.com
> I break my self-established rule in not responding to you Art.
> 
> Quite to the point of the survey, virtually anyone with concrete experience in
> schools that serve high concentration of low income children and / or children
> of color know that this law is devastating to them. Frankly, most high income
> schools could take off for a couple of years and still have kids pass these
> tests. This means that they really don¹t have to change much and can give kids
> rich experiences. On the other hand, people in schools serving high
> concentrations of children at risk are terrified of the repercussions. While
> we know the curriculum for these children has for a long time, been focussed
> on low level skills, memorizing facts rather than thinking, that is even more
> so now. In other words, while NCLB claims to be interested in improving
> schools for these children, the fact is that it does exactly the opposite.
> 
> Can¹t wait for the response.
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I wonder if people would have a more favorable opinion of NCLB if they were
> told that it obligates states to improve their schools, particularly schools
> that serve large numbers of poor children, minority children, children with
> disabilities, and children learning English?? Does anyone outside of the
> spinmeisters at FairTest really think that most Americans want to leave those
> children behind or that they would not embrace the notion that states should
> establish reasonable learning goals, administer tests to measure children's
> progress towards those goals, and step in to do something in schools where
> lots of children are falling behind?
> 
> Art
>  


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