Questions For Educators...

[Twistednkinky]

What effect has this standards based reform had on the teaching profession?

Do you feel the need to adjust your teaching style to be in compliance with this legislation? Why/Why not?

What implications if any will this act-NCLB have on low-income students, students with limited English profiencies and special-education students?

What efforts if any has your principal implemented to encourage or increase parent involvement, particularly in light of the fact that this legislation hawks parent participation as a critical component?

Please share any other thoughts you may have about NCLB?

[Sekhmet]

You know I have some things to say about NCLB! I don't have enough time before I have to be at the school to write my response. I'll check back in this evening.

[Peaches]

Hi Twisted..

I'm not currently in the education field but I'm a former guidance counselor. I'm not directly impacted by the legislation, but from what I know about it, it seems to be a catchy name for something that's not being funded by the government. The Bush administration keeps spouting off about "smaller class size :blah :blah ", but they keep redrawing school districts around the suburbs so that the inner city schools are bursting at the seams.

Then they keep talking about accountability and meeting standards,etc, but it's virtually impossible to work one on one with the students who have special needs if there are 35 people in one classroom. They're sending all this money to rebuild Iraq and basically telling the rich to go to private schools and the poor to keep busting their tails.

That's just my opinion though... :smug

Peaches...

[satriela]

The effects of NCLB are yet to be seen....and they won't be seen unless the federal government puts up the money to fund the requirements. Some of the things required are great :thumbsup and needed to happen (requiring more education for aides and assistants) and some suck (making teachers who have been teaching for years go back and retake tests....) :mad . But none of it matters if the funding doesn't come through... and to me that is the biggest issue. :fight

[Twistednkinky]

Thanks for the responses! :) If it not to much of a bother community.....*me on my knees pleading* would you please provide feedback in the Culture forum. The topic there is also about NCLB the only difference is the question is relative to the racial achievement gap.

@Sekhmet>>I am not surprised to see you here. I look forward to your response.

@Peaches>>I have been trying (operative word trying) to withhold my opinion about this topic, but it is really hard. Nevertheless, I am incline to agree with you about the name, it is so catchy that it is cliche and oxymoronic to boot!

Bottomline, the way it-NCLB actually works contradicts the promises it makes.

@Satriela>>I think the effects will be seen in the upcoming school year. We have been subjected to this legislation for two years....and it is my understanding that projected increases (test scores) for schools should be at 7% annually according to this reform right? So those schools who met AYP two years in a row will be given a pass so to speak, but the ones that will not....will be labeled as failing or INOI and it is MO that will be in the 2004/2005 school year. Your thoughts?

Here's my question what test are you referring to? Do you mean certification exams?

I am not a teacher, but the teachers I have come in contact with are not opposed to the certification per se, but they are concerned that children will suffer in the interim while teachers are preparing for certification exams. Your thoughts?

Additionally, do you find that teachers (and parents too) in general fully understand the far-reaching or long-term implication of this reform?

Lastly, I agree this educational reform is grossly under-funded!

:doh Another question to all....is standardize testing the best way to determine intelligence? If not what would you propose?

Thanks again everyone.....TTFN! :)

[Sekhmet]

Okay then....NCLB. http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/angrysoapbox.sml.gif

NCLB sounds so wonderful! It's what we all would hope occurs in our schools. It may look good on paper, but this piece of legiscraplation is so twisted that it's having the opposite effect of what it was intended to do - at least the surface intentions :smug . NCLB places a mountain of requirements for poor, already struggling urban schools. Make the teachers have 1-2-3-4 certifications, make the students take XYZ standardized tests :rolling , maintain the buildings and grounds and staff in such-and-such manner. BUT THERE'S NO FUNDING FROM MASSA TO IMPLEMENT ALL THE RIGOROUS NEW MANDATES! :mad WTF?!?!?!? What kind of morons are running this country when you threaten to close schools if they can't meet these requirements when they don't have the money? If they HAD the money, they wouldn't be in the dire predicament that most of them are in.

And the mere fact that NCLB requires that special education students take the same grade-level standardized tests as their peers is PURE LUNACY! THEY ARE FRICKING SPECIAL AZZHOLES! How fair is that? And not only is it not fair to these students in particular, it's not fair to the general students because the Spec.Ed. scores are factored into the school's overall scores with no consideration taken for their disabilities. :huh It's like the writers and sponsors of this legiscraplation actually WANT school scores to go down! http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/briques.gif

Take my school for example. We are a Title I school but our test scores are VERY high for poor kids of color. So much so that we were chosen as a High Achieving Title I school by the Dept of Ed. Only 15 schools nationwide got that honor and we were the only one in Cali. Fine. Our school houses 5 special education classes since we take in out-of-bound kids whose home schools don't even offer special day classes (can't be bothered with the special ones, you know :rolling ). We found out this year that we will NOT meet our anticipated AYP ONLY because NCLB demands that the special education class test scores are NOW being factored into AYP. We are surpassing our AYP requirements for EVERY other population: black, hispanic, low-iincome, etc. But with the specials being taken into account and their being so far below grade level, we've made negative gains. And it's only -2 at that! But if it happens 2 years in a row....http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/789.gif Needless to say, everybody's P.O.d and there are murmurings of voting to not house other schools' special kids. Our own kids - general and special - are at risk of being labeled as "Failing". The special ed. teachers don't want to be kicked out of the school. And what school is going to take them? We love those kids, that's why we opted to give them a permanent home at our school. It's quite a conumdrum and I've never seen our school so tense.

I'm not so upset about the certification requirements but they should at least pay teachers a decent wage so that taking those tests and obtaining those certifications don't leave you hungry or shoeless. Each one costs several hundred dollars of your own money. If you have to take 2 or 3 a year, that's almost a Grand. But you can only deduct $250 of it off your taxes. :rolling Teachers, paraprofessionals (teaching assistants) and librarians are getting reamed financially.

I don't believe that standardized tests should be the end-all-to-be-all. They offer guidelines or "peeks" into a student's intelligence or aptitude. Too often, the scores they generate are used improperly (not to mention written with a socio-cultural bias) to the detriment of our people and those like us. Ideally, I'd support a combination of testing AND portfolios. The problem is that portfolios are so time-consuming that not too many teachers even bother. I sort of, but it's not the "picture perfect" portfolios I imagined keeping for my kids when I was studying the craft.

And don't get me started on all the stupid paperwork! Our professional development days are spent learning about how to prepare for the next, newest standardized test they are shoving down the throats of teachers and students. We should be learning and sharing better teaching strategies, developing successful parent-teacher relations, building community/school coalitions, newest classroom management techniques, etc. Not how to administer yet another stupid test! http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/colere.gif

Mr. Bush, here's where you and your cronies can put your NCLB Crap http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/smiley_abhe.gif

[nappi4life]

never mind.........