NCLBA

What does NCLB mean to you?

To me, the NCLB Act was the government’s poor attempt to quickly improve something that is going to take years to correct. I think that its goals are unattainable. I’ve spoken to educators who feel the same. In fact, I can’t recall one educator I have met who is in favor of this “savior” created by the government.

High-stakes tests already threaten healthy learning in the classroom. Teachers spend so much time focusing on subjects they know will be covered on the “test” that they push other subjects not being tested to the back-burner. For instance, in a fifth grade classroom I observed in, the teacher actually told me that because one subject was not appearing on the MAP test that it was essentially on the back burner until students learned what they needed to know for the test. Wow. I can’t see how this is productive. Certain, important subjects are being pushed out of the classroom so that students can do well on what is being tested. As a result, they are ill-equipped for the future.There has to be another solution. There has to be.

It is very frustrating to me as a teacher. What if the foundations of these tested subjects aren’t firmly planted in previous grade-levels like they should be? As a teacher, that puts me in a tough position. I am almost forced (with limited time in the school day) to back-track and re-teach key elements in order for students to understand. This gap happens when teachers in previous grades spend all their time on different subjects (because they’re on the test this year!). Other subjects fall by the way-side. It’s almost a continual, self-destructive circle we find ourselves in.

I’m all for assessment. Don’t get me wrong. Of course we have to have assessment. Should it be so closely linked to funding? No, I do not think so. I won’t begin on funding because that’s an entirely different issue altogether. But, assessment has got to be amended. With the complicated situations we find ourselves in with immigrant students being allowed in the classroom, and then having the same expectations for achievement as other American students, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. How can you expect a student who’s been in the country less than a year to perform on these tests? And then, to base funding on these skewed numbers? It’s ridiculous. I can’t believe that we cannot find a better solution here.

As an educator it’s extremely slick ground. We are obligated to conform to these requirements. It’s our responsibility to find out how to pack all the necessary curriculum into the school year along with all the extra test prep. All this responsibility landing on the teachers. It’s a lot to ask, and it’s a lot of work. I do not have a solution right now. Perhaps after I have a few years under my belt, I will have a better idea. As for right now, it adds a whole lot of confusing fluff to my expectations. Hopefully, I can learn from other seasoned peers on this subject. Hopefully there is hope for reform for this outrageous bill. We can only pray.