Fwd: [LiteracyForAll] Those who know more about it like it less

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Stephen Krashen <skrashen@yahoo.com>
> Date: Thu May 31, 2007  4:37:53 PM US/Pacific
> To: literacyForAll@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [LiteracyForAll] Those who know more about it like it less
> Reply-To: LiteracyForAll@yahoogroups.com
>
> "About three-quarters of people who said they are
> "very familiar" with the law also say they want it
> altered or abolished, compared to less than half of
> people who say they are "not familiar" with the
> measure."
>
>
> MAJORITY WOULD LIKE "NO CHILD" LAW LEFT BEHIND
>    Scripps Howard News Service --  May 30, 2007
> by Thomas Hargrove and Guido H. Stempel III
> Nearly two-thirds of American adults want Congress to
> re-write or outright abolish the landmark No Child
> Left Behind Act that mandates nationwide testing of
> elementary students to determine if public schools are
> performing adequately.
>
> Opposition is especially high among people most
> familiar with the law, according to a survey of 1,010
> adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and
> Ohio University.
>
> Controversy about the law has grown in recent months
> as Congress begins the debate on whether to
> reauthorize the measure that President Bush has touted
> is one of the most important achievements of his
> administration.
>
> "The No Child Left Behind Act has worked for America's
> children and I ask Congress to reauthorize this good
> law," Bush urged legislators during his last State of
> the Union address.
>
> But dissent against reauthorization has developed
> within his own party. Fifty-two Republican House
> members and five GOP senators are calling for a repeal
> of the law in favor of a more flexible system of
> achievement standards to be negotiated between the
> Department of Education and individual states.
>
> "This expensive and largely unsuccessful legislation
> has broadened the scope of the federal government's
> role in education," Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said
> while introducing his bill.
>
> 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.
>
> A few respondents volunteered different answers that
> were generally critical of the law.
>
> "The schools should have more leeway," said the mother
> of two public school children from Lexington, S.C.
>
> "It was a good theory, but the implementation has been
> faulty," remarked another mother with three children
> from Elmhurst, N.Y.
>
> "No Child Left Behind created unfunded mandates which
> force teachers to teach to the test," complained a
> single woman from Tonopah, Nev.
>
> "States should have more control over their education
> programs," said a mother from Houston, Texas.
>
> Respondents in the poll were also asked: "Based upon
> everything you've heard, do you want Congress to renew
> the No Child Left Behind law, do you want Congress to
> make changes in the law or do you want Congress to
> cancel the No Child Left Behind law?"
>
> Twenty-three percent said they want the law renewed in
> its current form, 14 percent want it abolished and 49
> percent want it amended. Fourteen percent were
> undecided. Taken together, 63 percent want the law
> abolished or amended.
>
> About three-quarters of people who said they are "very
> familiar" with the law also say they want it altered
> or abolished, compared to less than half of people who
> say they are "not familiar" with the measure.
>
> Well-educated people, especially college graduates and
> those who've attended post-graduate schooling, are
> especially likely to call for changes to the law.
> People who have public school children at home are
> somewhat more likely to want the law altered or
> abolished than are people who don't currently have
> children in school.
>
> Although much of the criticism in Congress against the
> current form of the law is coming from Republicans,
> the poll found that Democrats in the general public
> were more likely to want changes in the law than were
> Republicans.
>
> The survey was conducted by telephone from May 6-27
> among 1,010 adult residents of the United States who
> were selected at random. The survey was conducted by
> the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University
> under a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation.
>
> The survey has a margin of error of about 3 percent,
> although the margin is somewhat higher when estimating
> support for the No Child Left Behind Act among
> different subgroups.
>
> (Thomas Hargrove is a reporter for Scripps Howard News
> Service. Guido H. Stempel III is the director of the
> Scripps Survey Research Center.)
>
>      http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/23421
>
>
>
>
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