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

["Tauna Rogers" <taunar@plateautel.net>]

Art,



I've been reading your posts defending NCLB for quite some time now. 
Invariably, you spin and dodge with appealing rhetoric, as do the law's 
crafty engineers, rather than confronting the law's appalling realities, 
absurdities and hypocrisies. The law portrays itself as on the side of the 
angels. It is not and the devil is found in the details and in who it is 
actually benefiting from the law and who it is that is being most harmed by 
the law..those disadvantaged kids. And when those details become more widely 
known and understood by the public, I believe you will find that the present 
"nearly two-thirds" of Americans who want the law re-written or outright 
abolished will grow to about 85% or more. You consistently avoid those 
details with vague generalities like,



"I wonder if people would have a more favorable opinion of NCLB if they were 
told that it obligates states to improve their schools....?"



Well gosh Art, I'd estimate off the cuff that oh, almost EVERYBODY would 
agree with improving our schools. But NCLB is not improving our public 
schools, it is destroying them. The proof is out there.



"Does anyone outside of the spinmeisters at FairTest really think that most 
Americans want to leave those children behind.?"



Hmm.at great risk I'm going out on a limb again and estimating that almost 
100% of our nation's citizens will say they do not want any children left 
behind. Great propaganda. But the NCLB definition of "leaving children 
behind" is, as Jerry Bracey has pointed out, predicated on a false 
dichotomy. How deceitful! (And shame on you for the disparaging remark about 
FairTest. They are most certainly not the spinmeisters). Ask Bush/Spellings 
and Co. to look in the mirror.



Addressing the zero percent chance of 100% proficiency on eddra, you said 
the following:



"Arguing about the impossibility of all children proficient, either on 
definitional or empirical grounds, is an exercise in silliness rooted in 
failure to distinguish the goal of improving schools.from the goal of all 
children proficient. The goal of all children proficient is supposed to 
drive improvements to schools."



Again I ask how you could in good conscience make such a statement about the 
impossible mandate of NCLB when it is on this very basis that children are 
being wrongly labeled, teachers/administrators are losing their jobs, public 
schools are wrongly being labeled failing and are being closed? AN EXERCISE 
IN SILLINESS??



Please, Art, if you are going to defend NCLB, address these pesky details 
and realities rather than issuing evasive generalities about what you 
believe to be the law's good intentions. For starters, you might directly 
address Jerry's Seven Deadly Absurdities of NCLB found here 
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/ross/archives/017314.html and elsewhere. I'm 
sure you've long been aware of Jerry's piece on the seven absurdities but I 
want you to ADDRESS them without evasion. And we could easily add to those 
absurdities.



Please don't scapegoat the states. Although I fault them for some things, 
all are under the gun of reaching the impossible destination of 100% 
proficiency, regardless of how they've calculated to um "get there". Most 
understandably have plans in place which stave off as long as possible the 
inevitable "failure" that will ensue. Love that NCLB "flexibility" granted 
to the states!



Tauna Rogers

Educator Roundtable



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <aburke5054@aol.com>
To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 8:46 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
> Sent: Thu, 31 May 2007 10:38 am
> Subject: [arn-l] Mos  U.S. Adults Want to Leave "No Child" Behind -- New 
> National Poll
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <>?
>
> MAJORITY WOULD LIKE "NO CHILD" LAW LEFT BEHIND?
>
> ? Scripps Howard News Service --  May 30, 2007?
>
> by Thomas Hargrove and Guido H. Stempel III?
> ?
>
>
> ...Participants in the poll were told that No Child Left Behind "requires
> states to test elementary students to determine if schools do a good job
> teaching. Critics say the law forces teachers to teach to a particular
> test. From everything you've heard, do you think the No Child Left
> Behind Act has been good for public schools or not good?"?
> ?
>
> Only about a third said they think the law has had a positive influence
> on public education while slightly less than half said it has had a
> negative impact and a fifth were undecided. ...
> ?
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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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