Re: FairTest reaction to Sec Spellings announcement of nclb 'differentiated accountability' pilot program

[MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net]

There's no evidence from that one statement that NCLB did anything to "improve" that class. It could have just been in the lesson plans for instruction. In fact, how do we know if the focus on those subjects she mentions hasn't gotten WORSE. Maybe the depth was better before, and she's only focused on her one experience. Unless one has the "before" and "after" effects, to take this quote out of the context of the flow of the class over the years is useless.

Joe
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: aburke5054@aol.com
> 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 "differentiated 
> accountability
> > plan" for up to 10 states. Spellings talk today is at
> > http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/03/03182008.html and that 
> contains
> > a link to the memo outlining the policy.
> >
> > Here is FairTest's react to this announcement:
> >
> > FairTest
> > National Center for Fair & Open Testing
> >  <>for further information contact:
> > Dr. Monty Neill   (617) 864-4810
> > Robert Schaeffer  (239) 395-6773
> >
> >
> > for immediate release, Tuesday, March 18, 2008
> > SEC. SPELLINGS "DIFFERENTIATED ACCOUNTABILITY" PLAN
> > IS "FUTILE EFFORT TO RESCUE A COLLAPSING LAW,"
> > SCHEME IS EQUIVALENT TO "REARRANGING DECK CHAIRS ON TITANIC"
> > REACTION OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAIR & OPEN TESTING
> >
> >
> >       Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' plan to allow ten 
> states to
> > pilot "Differentiated Accountability" approaches to comply with 
> federal "No
> > Child Left Behind" mandates is a futile effort to rescue a collapsing 
> law.
> > Though it correctly recognizes that NCLB identifies far too many 
> schools as
> > failing, the proposal is the political equivalent of rearranging deck 
> chairs
> > on the Titanic, not changing its misguided course. It will not slow 
> the
> > ever-growing demand for complete overhaul.
> >       At its core, "No Child" is unworkable. It makes impossible 
> demands
> > such as expecting all children to attain proficiency by 2014, relies 
> too
> > heavily on educationally destructive standardized tests which narrow
> > curriculum while encouraging "drill-and-kill" test prep, and imposes
> > counterproductive punishments.
> >       Simply imposing a state-by-state patchwork of new rules onto 
> the
> > top-down federal bureaucracy created by "No Child Left Behind" will 
> not lead
> > to improved education for the communities that most need it.  Far 
> more
> > fundamental changes, focusing on identifying the real causes of weak
> > academic performance and building schools' capacity to address them, 
> are
> > required.
> >       FairTest initiated the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, 
> a set
> > of principles for overhauling the federal law, which has been signed 
> by 143
> > national education, civil rights, religious, parent, disability, 
> civic and
> > labor groups. FairTest also facilitates the Forum on Educational 
> Assessment,
> > which works to implement the Joint Statement.
> >
> > - - 3 0 - -
> >
> >
> > The Joint Statement and other materials concerning NCLB, including 
> FairTest's
> > six-year "Report Card" on the law's impact, are online at:
> > http://www.fairtest.org
> >
> >
> >
> > Monty Neill, Ed.D.
> > Deputy Director
> > FairTest
> > 342 Broadway
> > Cambridge, MA 02139
> > 617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
> > monty@fairtest.org
> > http://www.fairtest.org
> > Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk
> >
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