No child left behind, a + or - thing.

[burniegoeasily]

I would like to focus on the emotional, physical, and mental aspect as it relates to the kids. I could go on for ever about how it promotes mediocrity, but I will refrain. I just read a report from our district and surrounding districts as to how the stress is effecting the kids. Now we know why some kids fail the standardized promotional tests. A large part are lazy and unwilling to learn the materials presented to them by their teachers. There is also the lower learner element. The kids I speak of are to lowoflearners to obtain the knowledge needed to pass the test, yet strive hard in the class which keeps them out of special E.D. (which is a joke, Ill also refrain from that rant at this time). In Texas a child has to pass the TAKs test in the third grade before they can be promoted to 4th grade. Some of these lower learners are suffering greatly due to the stress. One kid in the report I read was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer. Others in the report were being treated for anxiety attacks. In all the cases, the cause was identified as undue stress caused by the TAKs test.[/align]I can relate, my oldest daughter is in third grade and has already shown signs of stress. She has nothing to worry about because she aces all the practice tests and things I do with her to prepare her for the test, yet I have caught her crying in her room over the stress built up due to the test they will have to take at the end of the year.[/align][/align]So, what do you all think about our younger generation suffering in our nations attempt to meet mediocrity?[/align]

[ranwin33]

If children are undergoing emotional, physical and mental stress because of these tests, then is it the fault of the NCLB act or the fault of the teachers placing those stressors on the children?

I would have to ask, why are third graders even made aware of these tests? Wouldn't itbe better and more honest on the part of the school district to just teach the kids and at the end of the year say here's a test we're going to take. If grades on the tests improve, then the school's system and teachers are a success, if they do not improve then the school's system and teachers needs to improve.

It's my understanding that the standardized tests are not for grade to grade promotional purposes, perhaps that's a Texas law, but rather to hold schools accountable and create abaseline from which to showprogress or decline. I like the idea of holding schools and teachers accountable, I think they have gotten a free ride for far too long.

I know when the school district wanted to hold back my son in second grade, we would not allow it. He's now an engineer, building and designing bridges, I don't think holding him back would have made him any more successful.

Sorry if I strayed a bit from your question.

[burniegoeasily]

ORIGINAL: ranwin33


I would have to ask, why are third graders even made aware of these tests? Wouldn't itbe better and more honest on the part of the school district to just teach the kids and at the end of the year say here's a test we're going to take. If grades on the tests improve, then the school's system and teachers are a success, if they do not improve then the school's system and teachers needs to improve.

Id have to say because of media, Parents right act, etc. etc. Kids latch onto what adults say. I dont think these teachers are telling the kids the possible outcomes, yet reviewing for a test throughout the year. In the process, kids pick up on what is going on.

[BenGarrett]

At the risk of sounding like an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about, I was thinking the same thing as ranwin33. I'm only familiar with Tennessee, but in TN (and I thought NCLB was standard across the nation) there are no tests required for grade promotion at any level that are mandated by NCLB. NCLB is strictly for evaluating teachers and schools, not the kids.

Now as I say, I could be wrong. But if I'm right, then I don't think the insinuation that NCLB puts unfair stress on the kids holds any merit.

I've used this example before when this subject came up, but I'm going to use it again (and I know this strays away from the aspects you were pointing out, but I think it bears repeating). Our consolidated high school in my home county was struggling. Struggling mightily. Nobody cared. But when NCLB was instated, after one year, they found themselves on the target list. Now they HAD to do something. So the faculty put their heads together and started brainstorming for ideas to get grades up. They changed the existing course structure to improve learning in the subject areas evaluated by NCLB, they introduced new courses to the curriculum in an effort to boost attendance and graduation rate, and they began to offer incentives for improvement on progress reports and report cards.

The result? In one year, the difference was substantial. The percentage of kids testing proficient or advanced in math jumped from around 60% to around 85%. The percentage of kids testing proficient or advanced in math jumped from around 60% to around 90%. The attendance rate increased from around 84% to 94%. And the dropout rate over the course of a year dropped substantially. The school was taken off the list and, one year later, they continue to improve their scores. I now feel confident that I could send my child there and my child would receive a quality education at that school. I wasn't at all confident about that three years ago. The thing is, the resources were available, the right teachers with the right attitudes were available, all along . . . but the school didn't take the initiative to do anything about it until NCLB forced them to do something about it. If not for NCLB, that school would still be plodding along, and our kids would be walking off the stage after graduation and onto an assembly line somewhere.

I'll continue to support NCLB. I think it's good for our education system.

[PhoenixMA]

Bottom line is that my children's education is MY responsibility. The teachers are the primary instructors but if I don't like their results its up to me to prompt a change.

Thats why I sit down and do homework with my kids everyday. Failure is not an option for them I refuse to let them be the product of a system whose entire goal is "good enough".

[North Texan]

I hate the TAKS test and everything it stands for. It is the most pathetic attempt by Texas legislators to date to pass blame and earn bogus brownie points. If they were graded on there performance, they would not pass Go and would not collect $200.

The statewide Republicans made a decision a few years ago to claim they were big on education and were going to "fix" the system. To fix the system, they had to make things look bad. Since they can't seem to find a way to finance schools, they had to shifteyes elsewhere by creating an illusory problem. What a better way to make things look bad than to take the statewide testing system, make it harder, and take away all exemptions. It doesn't take a genious to figure out scores will drop.

If statewide lawmakers really wanted accountability, they would solve the school finance problem. This year, they didn't even release the money for textbooks on time.

Everybody promises to "hold failing schools accountable". It looks to me like their version of holding those schools accountable is to diminish the schools funding. I just don't see how taking schools that are struggling and then making their situation worse by reducing their resources is going to fix anything. What we are doing is simply forcing our schools into even more of a one-size-fits-all system.

[burniegoeasily]

ORIGINAL: BenGarrett

At the risk of sounding like an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about, I was thinking the same thing as ranwin33. I'm only familiar with Tennessee, but in TN (and I thought NCLB was standard across the nation) there are no tests required for grade promotion at any level that are mandated by NCLB. NCLB is strictly for evaluating teachers and schools, not the kids.

Just wait. Bush was a Gov. Texas and got the ball rolling here first. It will come. Most other states are not meeting the NCLB requirments yet.

[burniegoeasily]

Our consolidated high school in my home county was struggling. Struggling mightily. Nobody cared. But when NCLB was instated, after one year, they found themselves on the target list.

So NCLB caused yall to meet the goal of mediocracy? Im tired of tring to raise an unwilling (90% id say) to a minimal goal rather than allowing the upper level to achieve a higher standard?

[burniegoeasily]

ORIGINAL: PhoenixMA

Bottom line is that my children's education is MY responsibility. The teachers are the primary instructors but if I don't like their results its up to me to prompt a change.

Bravo. Very well said.

[burniegoeasily]

What we are doing is simply forcing our schools into even more of a one-size-fits-all system.

Yep, meet a goal of mediocracy at the expense of Higher learners and the struggling.