Democracy Left Behind

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

The video "Democracy Left Behind" provides valuable insights into both the harmful consequences for education and democracy of the federal No Child Left Behind Law and rich educational practices in which students learn democracy by practicing it. 

 

With voices from educators across the nation, the video points out that under the NCLB testing regime, students will not learn to think or problem solve, undermining democracy. Students experience a loss of time for exploration, discovery, learning in depth. Test-based schooling deepens the disconnect between students lives and schools, contributing to alienation and dropping out. 

 

Though these consequences are felt most intensely in schools serving low-income children, they affect even well-to-do schools that are forced to turn to "artificial education instead of real education." 

 

Still, the video shows many examples of the kind of engaging teaching and learning about democracy that all schools should do. Such teaching requires time, skilled instruction, and patience. 

 

The video raises questions that it does not entirely answer: Is the vision of democracy displayed in these schools deep and rich enough? How much could schools actually do in the face of NCLB if educators and parents together insisted they would not allow the tests to control their schools? But it is a measure of the quality of the video that it raises complex issues and provides rich information for considering them. 

 

$24.95  from: www.DocMakerOnline.com   

 

Monty Neill 

 

The flyer for the video: 

 

DEMOCRACY LEFT BEHIND  (57 min)  2007

 

How effectively do our public schools prepare students for active participation in democratic society?  Is there a relationship between an often ill-informed public and the manner in which social and political issues are addressed in our nation's classrooms?

 

In Democracy Left Behind, award-winning documentary filmmaker Bob Gliner, examines the impact of No Child Left Behind on the ability of schools to serve a civic mission - demonstrating how difficult it is now for many students to understand what their education means in the larger context of the society and world they inhabit.

 

Filmed in a broad cross-section of economically and culturally diverse schools, including provocative interviews with teachers, administrators, and nationally known experts, Democracy Left Behind shows why learning to become an active and knowledgeable citizen should be an integral part of learning basic educational skills such as reading and math, rather than something only too easily forgotten in the pursuit of higher test scores.

 

Will surely add to the national debate around No Child Left Behind and the role our public schools play in helping shape American society.

 

Ordering Information:

 

$24.95  from: www.DocMakerOnline.com   

Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Co-Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
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