Despite House Action, Debate Over ‘No Child Left Behind’ Goes Nowhere
Contrary to the legislation’s grandiose title, very little in the bill directly addresses the needs of students at all – other than some provisions related to homeless students and schools affected by the presence of the federal government. And nowhere does it propose what “success” for the nation’s students should look like and how our country can know when we’re realizing success for more of our youngest citizens.
The bill is being peddled by Republicans as “a better approach to K-12 education,” but many of the provisions continue the current emphasis on using high-stakes testing to evaluate teachers and to grade schools. As has been the tendency in education policy, the emphasis on raising test scores is generously seasoned with the language of “effectiveness,” while none of the policy directly addresses what effective teachers and schools actually do and how that can be supported, sustained and spread.
The bill’s emphasis on assessment is never balanced with attention to curriculum and instruction, as if the stern hand of accountability will magically take care of all the other
The bill is being peddled by Republicans as “a better approach to K-12 education,” but many of the provisions continue the current emphasis on using high-stakes testing to evaluate teachers and to grade schools. As has been the tendency in education policy, the emphasis on raising test scores is generously seasoned with the language of “effectiveness,” while none of the policy directly addresses what effective teachers and schools actually do and how that can be supported, sustained and spread.
The bill’s emphasis on assessment is never balanced with attention to curriculum and instruction, as if the stern hand of accountability will magically take care of all the other