Holistic education lost - MontereyHerald.com ::
"With everyone's attention on the bad economy, government health insurance and the war in Afghanistan, many issues have been pushed aside.
Two years ago, when the time came to reinstate No Child Left Behind, the Congress voted no. Unfortunately, the federal government never told the states and schools to stop the program or take time to re-evaluate it.
As more and more schools fell into the curse of being labeled in Program Improvement, a gap began to develop between affluent school districts and those struggling.
One superintendent once told me being placed on Program Improvement was like being swept down a black hole. Instead of moving forward, you are being swept back. Meanwhile, schools in affluent communities moved forward. Let me explain."
When a school is categorized as Program Improvement, it is required to focus on two specific areas: language skills and math skills. The really sad part of No Child Left Behind is that the whole school suffers for the poor scores of a few. Instead of going back and focusing on only those students who are struggling with language and math skills, NCLB makes the entire school work on just those two areas.
This almost sounds like communism or socialism.
The first areas to be cut from the daily school life are electives. Electives are what give all those language and math skills real-life meaning in the minds of a young student. So we begin to cut music, shop, art, home ec, athletics, etc., subjects important to the development of the whole child.
"With everyone's attention on the bad economy, government health insurance and the war in Afghanistan, many issues have been pushed aside.
Two years ago, when the time came to reinstate No Child Left Behind, the Congress voted no. Unfortunately, the federal government never told the states and schools to stop the program or take time to re-evaluate it.
As more and more schools fell into the curse of being labeled in Program Improvement, a gap began to develop between affluent school districts and those struggling.
One superintendent once told me being placed on Program Improvement was like being swept down a black hole. Instead of moving forward, you are being swept back. Meanwhile, schools in affluent communities moved forward. Let me explain."
When a school is categorized as Program Improvement, it is required to focus on two specific areas: language skills and math skills. The really sad part of No Child Left Behind is that the whole school suffers for the poor scores of a few. Instead of going back and focusing on only those students who are struggling with language and math skills, NCLB makes the entire school work on just those two areas.
This almost sounds like communism or socialism.
The first areas to be cut from the daily school life are electives. Electives are what give all those language and math skills real-life meaning in the minds of a young student. So we begin to cut music, shop, art, home ec, athletics, etc., subjects important to the development of the whole child.