People have asked me before what No Child Left Behind is really all about. I am not sure that I agree with it, and maybe after you read this symbolic example you might see how hard of a goal this really can be. Not that I don't want children to succeed, but there is not really a uniform way to measure or judge people and their abilities.
No Child Left Behind: The Basketball Version
1. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all must win the
championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on
probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held
accountable.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same basketball skills at the same
time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest
in basketball, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or
disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY BASKETBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL.
3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own; without
instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their
instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in basketball,
have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don't like basketball.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in
4th, 8th and 11th games.
5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to
have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal
goals.
If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.
6 comments:
it's pretty good huh? =)
The only thing I have a problem with is that we're not talking about basketball. We're talking about making sure that every child knows how to read, do math, know history at the grade level they're supposed to be at and leave school after 12th grade with the basics they're going to need to get a good job or get into a good college.
Every school can't be in 1st place, but every school can and should meet the requirements that were handed down to them by the "No Child Left Behind" act. If they can't, then throwing more money at them isn't going to solve the problem. Changing the school's administrators, curriculum, or dare I say weeding out the bad apples (teachers) is going to be the only thing that's going to help. I say "bad apples" because I know that the good majority teachers are very dedicated to the job, but there's always a few bad ones out there.
As for that last point in your post about not giving the smarter students as much as attention as little Susie who isn't getting the schoolwork; I can sympathize. While I was in elementary school, even though I was clearly bored most of the time because it didn't take me as much time to understand the concepts being taught, the school refused to allow me to skip a grade. They said that it would hurt my social development, since I would be the youngest by a year in my class. My rebuttal is, how close is a school class to real adult life? How often are you going to be socializing or working with 20-30 people the exact same age as you?
Well, this comment got a bit long! Ooops! Talk to you later, Kim!
-BeccaV
I got your comment on my blog; maybe you missed the point of what I am saying. I mean that as a teacher, it is not fair to judge the progress of the students based on a single test. Or for that matter, I should not be judged or be paid more or less based on the performance of students on said test. When you have a class of little bodies who come to school at 6 years old and do not know how to hold a pencil (or use it, never seen one before), students who are beaten at home, and other stories that can not be compared to students in a two parent home, with 2 years of wonderful preschool experience. It just doesn't mesh. Yes, we try to help them. But when they get no help at home, there is only so much that can be done in a 6 1/2 hour day when you have 45 min for lunch/recess, another 40 minutes in art or music or pe, and time for settling in and packing up. Take my class, I present well planned lessons from the curriculum, have rewards, give more praise and positive reinforcement that any other...but I still have students who are not able/willing to take any responsibility upon themselves to participate. Just a hard, hard job this is.
Ack! See! I didn't mean to offend or attack! I have definite opinions on pretty much every issue under the sun. Sometimes I change my views when people bring up points that I have never thought of before. That's how I learn and evolve I suppose. But I do remember having said that if I am start to offend somehow or becoming too touchy for you, to please call a time out! As for the educational system, all I know is what I read in newspapers and see on the news. I, myself, was homeschooled after fifth grade and I do have to admit that I do believe it to be a better system than the public school system. IMHO, the public school system is a wreck, but it's new laws and good teachers like you who can change that around and make the US Education system the best in the world!
As for the family thing....all I know is how I see "you know who" being attacked right in front of me on a regular basis. There may be reasonings behind these attacks (past problems, etc), but from what I'm hearing from you.......we should never blame someone who is doing something wrong because maybe something bad happened to them in the past. You seem to apply this principle to both adults and children. It's a victimization thing that pretty much says that no one is responsible for their present actions because so-and-so had a bad past.
We're just two different people with two different outlooks on life. Please don't ever get offended by what I say. They're just my opnions and thankfully in this great country of ours, we're both allowed to express them and love each other despite of them. As Sisters in Christ, I don't want to ever divide us because of offense.
For that reason, the conversation on school and family is closed, unless you ever want to reopen them again. Please know that I am rarely if ever offended by anything and enjoy a good debate whenever.
Sincerely,
Becca
Okay,
Here is the problem with No Child Left Behind. It's a resolution without a means. You can't pass a law that says, "hey, from now on we are going outlaw being homeless." However, without providing homes and shelters for said shelters you've only created another problem. It's the same way in the school. You have to pass laws guaranteeing things like teacher/student ratio, safety, meals, and transportation before passing such nonsense. "No child left behind sounds great," but take it for what it is--an extremely idealistic political concept meant to attract votes from those not smart enough to do their own research. No more. No less. Well, I hope they pass laws agaist being hungry and being poor and lets just outlaw violence. . .it will be nice to worry about these things any more.
Grow up kids.
I just think it's ridiculous. If everyone worked on the same level all the time... what interest would there be in having any friends or some one to ask questions to... etc., etc...? Really, there wouldn't be a need forrrr... advance classes or anything like that. It's slowing down the kids who are ahead and making the kids who are "behind" feel unworthy... that's what I think anyway. I was reading this post and thought to myself, "WHAT?!" lol
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