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[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index] Re: FairTest reaction to Sec Spellings announcement of nclb 'differentiated accountability' pilot program
By Maria Glod Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, March 17, 2008; Page B01 As Montgomery County ninth-grader Stephen Sabia reads "Romeo and Juliet" and studies the Holocaust and World War II for honors history and English, his mother credits an important ally in her years-long drive to secure the best education possible for her son with Down syndrome: the federal No Child Left Behind law. ... Ricki Sabia, Stephen's mother, said the law "really pushed the envelope for expectations for Stephen. There is no more question of whether he should be learning the same material as other kids. He's been exposed to literature and other academics at a level I don't think he would have without No Child Left Behind." _________________________________________________________ This is why it's important to hold schools to high standards for all children and this is why it's important to have accountability mechanisms to back it up. Tell Stephen and his mom again, Lucido and FairTest, how NCLB is all a plot to enrich the Business Roundtable and all it does is harm. Art -----Original Message----- From: MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net To: arn-l@interversity.org Sent: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 4:01 pm Subject: Re: [arn-l] FairTest reaction to Sec Spellings announcement of nclb 'differentiated accountability' pilot program My, my, how sickly sweet she is through this whole thing. It has a whole lot of "I want to make this new version JUST palatable enough now, so that the wealthier districts/parents (which are rising in arms against NCLB) with fewer problems in 'achievement' will support this new scandalous version of the NCLB". A few points below: Spellings: "Industries from medicine to commerce, from finance to entertainment, have leveraged data and accountability to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as customer service, satisfaction, and quality of life. Together, we can support the same transformation in education." -Translation: Corporation$ will now be given the red carpet to come on in and take over your "failing $chool$". They will be allowed to use busine$$ practice$ in school$, even though there ha$ been no evidence to show that they are any better. Spellings: "Of course, we will only achieve this goal if we continue facing our problems head on, instead of rejecting data and measurement because they can cause discomfort." -Translation: We will continue to jab really pointy things into your backside until you give in and collapse the entire public school system under a program of standardized teaching-testing-widget-producing. Oh, and here's a band-aid for that. Spellings: "After all, don't our children deserve to benefit from the same spirit of possibility and innovation that has made our country great?" -Translation: I don't read any research that shows real innovation comes from the freedom to think. Even though Scandinavian countries outperform our kids and understand how the development of the human spirit is integral in education, I will choose to ignore that data. I also don't read U.S. History and don't acknowledge all of the success our schools HAVE made--without massive corporate influence. In fact, I may not know how to read. (I am pre-programmed..zzzzzrt...crackle..pop...) -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org> Sec Spellings has announced a pilot NCLB "differentiatedaccountability plan" for up to 10 states. Spellings talk today is atcontains a link to the memo outlining the policy.states to pilot "Differentiated Accountability" approaches to comply withfederal "No Child Left Behind" mandates is a futile effort to rescue a collapsinglaw. Though it correctly recognizes that NCLB identifies far too manyschools as failing, the proposal is the political equivalent of rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic, not changing its misguided course. It will not slowthe ever-growing demand for complete overhaul.demands such as expecting all children to attain proficiency by 2014, reliestoo heavily on educationally destructive standardized tests which narrowthe top-down federal bureaucracy created by "No Child Left Behind" willnot lead to improved education for the communities that most need it. Farmore fundamental changes, focusing on identifying the real causes of weakare required.a set of principles for overhauling the federal law, which has been signedby 143 national education, civil rights, religious, parent, disability,civic and labor groups. FairTest also facilitates the Forum on EducationalAssessment, which works to implement the Joint Statement.FairTest's six-year "Report Card" on the law's impact, are online at: ------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe ARN-L: http://interversity.org/lists/arn-l/subscribe.html
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