Strollerderby : no child left behind

Parents Blackmail Their Kids' School

JeanneSager — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:30:00 GMT

So Ray Abril Jr. High School won't win any awards for creativity. Is the name really so bad that parents have to blackmail their school to get it changed?

A majority of parents in the Colton Joint Unified School District voted for the school board to name its new high school "Grand Terrace," but when the school board picked the name of a former school trustee (Abril) instead, they decided they'd boycott a state-mandated test to show their displeasure.

Is that really necessary?

The boycott is expected to earn the school district penalties from the state, which requires the Star tests be administered to at least eighty-five percent of the school population in accordance with the No Child Left Untested, er, Behind, act.

Parents say they're trying to send the school district a message - one parent's direct quote in the Contra Costa Times: "If you won't listen to our opinion about the name of the high school, then you don't get the benefit of our test scores."

Because this is going to make or break your kids' future? I'm all for protesting standardized testing. A number of studies have proven the tests may actually hamper learning, encouraging teachers and students to rely on rote memorization. They're also particularly bad for minority students. These parents, however, aren't complaining about the tests themselves. They're just using them to show they have more power than the board. Said one mom, "If you change the name, if you listen to us, then we will let our children take the test."

Um, that's called blackmail where I come from.

This is the name of a school building. A name that, despite the vote, doesn't HAVE TO be put up for vote in most places. Our local district merged in 1999, and I didn't have a say in what they named the new district. Trust me, I sleep just fine at night. I'd probably sleep better knowing my kid wouldn't be entering the building in a year and a half ready to face standardized tests, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Granted, I don't know much about Ray Abril Jr. He might be a bit of a jerk (although many comments on this news story would note to the contrary). But he's also not Stalin or Hitler. And it's JUST A NAME.

Anyone else think the kids and parents are reversed here?

Image: SB Sun (Colton Unified School)

When Spanking Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws (American and Somali) Will Spank!

Kate Tuttle — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Last week I wrote about the death of an Indian schoolgirl due to corporal punishment, which got me reading about corporal punishment rules worldwide, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an international treaty that has been signed by 193 of the world's countries -- that's every member of the United Nations save two. Guess who hasn't signed it yet? The United States -- along with that bastion of human rights, Somalia.

This week conservative parenting guru John Rosemond had an editorial in the Washington Times about how the US needs to stand strong against signing the UNCRC, because he feels it would erode the rights of parents. Because there's been an influx of new political pressure to sign the treaty now that Obama's in office (clearly Bush was never going to sign it), he urges readers to seek more information and then to "call or write to your senators and let them know how you would like them to vote should ratification come to the Senate floor. Given that ours is still a government of, for and by the people, let us pray that the people make themselves heard!"

Shockingly enough, I totally agree. But first, read more about the UNCRC and figure out what you want to tell them when you call. If you are eager to preserve your right to spank your child, you may urge them to vote no, when and if it comes up. But first read it yourself; you may find that you like what it has to say. A sampling, and this is what I found when visiting the site Rosemond himself recommends, a site opposed to the UNCRC:

Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.
Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.

This is meant to be scary stuff! But to me -- and to the people of Canada, Mexico, England, Australia, all of Western Europe, all of Africa, all of South and Central America, etc. -- it sounds pretty reasonable. Clearly numbers 4, 5, and 7 are kind of red herring-ish (we have a busy enough court system as it is). But just as clearly Rosemond and his ilk find it scary to contemplate a nation in which children are free from physical punishment, free to choose their own religion, and free to learn about sex, science, and other religions -- not to mention one which supports children's welfare with more than just rhetoric.

Sounds like a country that truly would leave no child behind. What a huge step forward it would be if we could join the rest of the world in that goal.

The Guy's Kind Of A Jerk, But He's Got a Point

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They Say: School Makes Your Kid Stupid, Fat and Mean

Madeline Holler — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:08:00 GMT

If your kid goes to one of those academic and/or desperate to improve schools, where all the little ones are hunkered down drilling math facts and learning phonics and taking practice test after practice test, you might need to worry.

Schools responding to the test score requirements of No Child Left Behind -- many of which have given up recess and other free time to up math and reading test performance -- are failing children (yet again!) in terms of learning how to behave socially.

From Reuters (via Yahoo!):

"The available research suggests that recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school," the research team said in a study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

But today many children get less free time and fewer physical outlets at school "because many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics," they added.

These schools, which often serve urban children who don't get much free time outdoors either, are also not helping the rise in childhood obesity. Another topic, another day.

Here's my question: if learning the academic stuff like math and reading is all about putting in hours, why not up those hours? Not by killing off art and P.E. and music, but by extending the school year. The U.S. school year is surprisingly short and the summer break is painfully (and harmfully, if you ask me) long.

You teachers out there might hate me for this, but the normal two-month summer break should be way shortened -- to two or three weeks. Then the days could be less packed, there would be time to bring back music and art and who knows what other long-term learning projects.

What do you think?

Photo: DrRobyn.blogspot.com

Arne Duncan: Dunce or Great Pick?

Miriam Axel-Lute — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:04:00 GMT

Honeymoon? What honeymoon? People have been burning up the web debating the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration, but not make any policy. Meanwhile, not nearly as much as been said about Obama's choice for the crucial position of Secretary of Education.

Maybe that's because, like me, people don't know what to think of Arne Duncan.

On the one hand, investigative journalist (and Obama supporter) Greg Palast says Duncan is a piss-poor choice, one of those businessman-turned-education-administrators who thinks that you can raise test scores in poor, underserved schools by firing the teachers there as punishment. Not to mention believing that "raising test scores" as such is the top priority. Palast thinks Duncan won't give us any change from the No Child Left Behind disaster, and snipes that the Obamas didn't trust their kids to Duncan (who was recently head of the Chicago schools).

On the other hand, this Harvard magazine profile describes his support of a range of non-test-crazy stuff like after-school programs, literacy, opening school buildings to the community, and engaging parents. He's also a supporter of LGBT safe-school initiatives and early childhood education. Of course, alumni profiles are not known for being critical.

Anyone out there with kids in Chicago public schools, or who follows education reform more closely, want to weigh in on this one?

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Children's Knowledge "Too Shallow" UK Study Finds

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:00:00 GMT

A study has recommended that right as the United States is hunkering down and testing in the old-fashioned disciplines, the UK needs to toss them and revise its primary education (ages 5-11) curriculum to increase the "depth" of students learning. To increase that depth, recommendations suggest overhauling the curriculum by replacing the 13 discrete disciplines currently in the curriculum with six areas of understanding. Those areas--understanding English, communication and languages; mathematical understanding; science and technological understanding; human, social and environmental understanding; understanding physical education and wellbeing and understanding the arts and design--would be taught through interdisciplinary projects. For example,

"Instead of discrete lessons in history, design and engineering skills, pupils in York might do a project about the city's architecture encompassing all those skills."

As a teacher and a mother, I have to admit this sounds wonderful to me. Such a shift in curriculum would allow not only for deeper understanding, but for multiple areas of entry to a subject. If a student isn't great at one skill set, she might be better at another and be able to break through the barrier of understanding that way.

I'm such a non-fan of No Child Left Behind and its narrow, 3-R's, teach-to-the-test curricular shifts that I am keeping my kids out of school until 4th grade. If only the U.S. cared about children's "depth" of knowledge! Maybe I'd send mine down to the corner school after all.

Image: York Architecture, bubog.com

No Child Left Behind Sets Impossible Goals

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:20:00 GMT

Yet another of the Bush administration’s chickens has come home to roost, this time in the arena of early education. The No Child Left Behind law has begun creating problems for schools that are not unlike the balloon payments dogging many homeowners.

This past year, more schools failed to meet the federal law’s testing requirements than ever before, in large part because, for many states, NCLB required relatively small improvements in the first few years, followed by gigantic leaps in the next few years.

In California, for instance, many schools were making good progress, increasing test scores by about 3 percent a year. But this year, these solid schools are required to up student performance by a whopping 11 percent; for most of them, it has proven impossible. One study estimated that every single elementary school in California would fail to meet the NCLB requirements by 2014, the year in which the law aims to have every American school achieve 100 percent proficiency in math and reading—a goal which many experts have long argued is impossible.

“And they’re asking for another 11 percent increase next year and the next, and that’s where I’m saying I just don’t know how,” said a California school principal (pictured). “I’m spending sleepless nights.”

Perhaps most worrisome, NCLB (unintentionally) mandates harsher punishments for schools in states with harder tests and higher academic standards; schools with lower standards, on the other hand, stand a better chance of meeting NCLB’s improvement requirements.

School administrators have been counting on Congress to change the law to reflect more realistic standards of achievement. But with war, environmental degradation, and economic disaster to contend with, it’s unlikely that early education laws will be seriously revisited anytime soon.

Photo: New York Times

October: It's Not Just for Halloween Anymore--Arts and Humanities Month!

Shannon LC Cate — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:16:00 GMT

One of my biggest peeves with education in the United States is the short shrift given to the arts in most schools. I know there are exceptions, but it seems that the overwhelming majority of people think a great education is one that focuses on Math, Science and has kids reading the New York Times by age four. No Child Left Behind has, arguably exacerbated this problem by forcing schools to focus so much on test prep that the arts get left behind.

Many have argued in recent years that there are correlations between study of (even just listening to) music and math skills, or drama and visual art and verbal test scores. But these are tentative studies with no final conclusions about whether the correlation is truly direct, and brain-related, or simply a spurious connection due to high-achieving students happening to also enjoy and study the arts.

I say, who cares whether or not arts help kids with "real" academic subjects. The arts should be studied and practiced and enjoyed for their own sake. Whether or not playing the violin will help her math scores, I want my daughter to play the violin. There is much more to the experience of being human than high math scores. One of the reasons I am homeschooling my children in the early grades is to give them ample opportunity to study, practice and enjoy music, dance, visual arts and physical exercise. I want my children to grow up entitled to the arts. I want them to own the arts, to know that art is for everyone--not just a tiny minority of extraordinarily gifted people. We have, in our culture, the attitude that art is a luxury, that only special people can make art or music. Too many adults tell their children reflexively "I can't draw; I can't sing; I can't dance" when children spontaneously invite us into these activities. Celebrate Arts and Humanities Month. Next time your child says "draw me a picture" or "sing me a lullaby" or "dance with me" stop that reflex. Say "sure!" and do it with gusto and without self-deprecation. Consider it a baby-step on the path to a more well-rounded society.

Montessori Takes Boston: Is Your City Next?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Montessori education, characterized by self-directed learning with individual learning styles guided rather than directed by teachers, is usually a private educational option for the preschool and elementary school years. Several Boston public schools are now offering Montessori education to all comers. Will the Montessori method be able to succeed in an age of No Child Left behind? Many in Boston seem to think so...

The Montessori method allows closer integration between preschool and elementary education and is more adaptable than traditional classrooms to vastly different learning styles. On the other hand, there are those who doubt it will be able to withstand the rigorous testing requirements of a school environment ruled by No Child Left Behind.

Even so, Montessori is a proven method and provides a very high quality and individualized educational program for children. If it were available in your school district, would you jump at the opportunity to forgo the usually high tuitions ($7,000 - $17,000 per year) in favor of a public education for your child? I would.

Are Kids in the U.S. and U.K. the World's Dummies?

Madeline Holler — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:03:00 GMT

Let’s start with the bad news: fourth-graders in the U.S. haven’t improved their reading skills since No Child Left Behind was started. And the number of countries and regions whose fourth-graders are now better than their American counterparts has increased. A lot.

The good news? U.S. scores are still above the international average. And, U.S. fourth-graders scored better than their peers over in the U.K. (They still have the better accents when reading aloud, which, sadly, for them, was not a part of the standards.)

Here’s the rest of the competition: U.S. students posted a lower average score than students in Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Hungary, Italy and Sweden, along with the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. (Damn Canadians)

In the last round of these international literacy tests, Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore were behind the United States.

These scores are the source of much consternation for the U.K., who not only falls behind the U.S. (which is likely quite humiliating for them) but is also actually scoring lower than in previous years. Great Britain fell from third to 19th place in the overall scores. Only Morocco and Bulgaria fell harder, faster.

Experts in the U.K. fault computer games, a decline in reading at home, and a decline in the amount of time students are read to at school.

Photo: BBC

When Your Child is Left Behind

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:35:00 GMT

What is it about a child who is left out? Their palpable loneliness and disappointment when other kids exclude them from play for reasons of age, disability, or difference, is so painful to watch. As a parent, one of the challenges is of course to decide when to intervene and solve and when to hang back and let your child sort it out for him or herself. And of course there comes the day when you can't be there -- when your child faces school bullies, or cliques, or worse, all alone.

Then there is the small matter of families with some children starting school and some who aren't. Despite government initiatives to the contrary, younger siblings are absolutely and thoroughly left behind as their older pals leave on new and exciting Kindergarten ventures. And even though it doesn't hold a candle to the exclusion some kids experience throughout their lives, there is something universally sad about the one who plaintively cries "but *I* want to go to school too, Mama!"

Sometimes I think parenting is learning to tolerate a loved ones heartache (or frustration or irrational tantrum) and helping them find the tools and the strength to comfort themselves. Other times, I think parenting teaches us to protect innocence, wonder, and trust long after we may have lost our own. Today, as my twin daughters walked into Kindergarten and their younger sister realized that for the very first time she could not go along, her heartbreak as she yelled out "but it's MY Kindergarten" nearly ruined me. Being left behind is an important part of the human experience. And though I won't be able to shield all the children in the world from experiencing it needlessly, sometimes I wish I could.

What Your Child Won't Learn While "No Child Left Behind" is Law

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:35:00 GMT

Poetry for one. Jonathan Kozol, author of many award-winning books about the shabby state of public education and access to health care among poor and minority communities, is interviewed by Salon about his current book "Letters to a Young Teacher." In it, he discusses the vast shortcomings of "No Child Left Behind" which range from squelching childhood imagination to killing teacher inspiration.

For the uninitiated, NCLB is the brainchild of the Bush Administration and became law in 2001. The problems with the law are legendary and well-documented, the worst of which is taking money away from "under-performing" schools (because taking money away from schools will increase accountability and performance). Kozol's description of the state of American education (the tests are ruining everything!) is worthy of a standing ovation.

Regardless of your political persuasion, most people would agree that this Administration lacks poetry. Perhaps poetry and its attendant ability to imagine and wonder about the unseen universe beyond capitalistic necessity and moralistic platitudes isn't the most important thing that is missing here (peace, for one). But I can't help longing for the certain kind of trouble Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" wrought for W's predecessor. Doesn't concern about interns in the Oval Office seem almost quaint now?

Kozol offers hope to the grunts striving away in the inner city schools, acknowledging that "... the invasion of the public schools by mercantile values has deeply demoralized teachers" and accurately noting that "I don't think there's anything in No Child Left Behind about reading the sonnets of Rilke to first graders."

And so many of the children won't ever read this:

Nothing in the vaults of kingly decay
and mustiness gives lie to his praise
not even a shadow falling from the gods.

He is one of the eternal heralds
who carries fruitful praise
through the portals of death.

-from Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke

The beauty of poetry is the manner in which it creates pockets of possibility within our daily grind brains. If our children are trained only to compete in the marketplace (and not in the realm of ideas), what wonder will be lost.

Gifted Kids Left Behind in Schools

Karen Murphy — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:07:00 GMT

Just at a time when I'm considering taking my kids from the Waldorf school they've always attended to go to the nearest public school instead comes this news: gifted kids aren't being supported or challenged, and in fact are rather being neglected in today's post "No Child Left Behind" public school scenario.

I was a so-called gifted kid. In my California school, that meant a three-week stint in the 4th grade where some of us got to skip classes and instead sit around with the cool Gifted Teacher Guy and discuss The Hobbit and think up ways to protect a raw egg from being thrown off the school's roof in the exciting culmination of our three-week vacation (the winner got to keep the rat we were studying).

And apparently, gifted programs across the U.S. haven't improved much since then.

With so much teacher resource and energy, not to mention the all-important funding, being spent to raise standards for the lowest of the educational bell curve, the kids at the higher end are being neglected. In fact, about 5% of gifted students leave school early, about the same rate as nongifted kids. $8 BILLION is being spent annually to help delayed kids, yet only $800 million is thrown at the gifted ones. Having at least one of kid who falls in each of those two categories, it's a bit of a quandary. Certainly disabled and delayed kids need the help they're getting (unless we're talking about teaching to the tests, and I think we are but that's a different matter), but don't we as a society value the smart kids as well? Aren't they part of our future? According to my dad, who values academia highly, they ARE our future, and he may be right.

What do you think? Has this issue touched your family? Short of letting more gifted kids skip grades (which may not entirely solve the problem, believe me), what else can be done to support these kids?

School Segregates Students to Teach the Test

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:03:00 GMT

The No Child Left Behind Act has schools freaked. That's the only explanation I can take from this: Mount Diablo High School in Northern California has taken to separating students based on race to give them assembly pep talks about improving their test scores.

The principal said, "Blah blah blah -- I'm not racist, I swear." While parents and students said the alarming policy smacks of modern-day segregation. "Teaching the test" is bad enough -- it robs students of the fundamental building blocks that teach how to learn, not what to learn.

But segregating students and shouting slogans like "What up white people!" is beyond the pale. If this is just one whack-job school having fun at the expense of students, fine -- fire the morons in charge and move on. But if this is just an example of the lengths schools feel they must go to in order to not get left behind, add this to the long list of reasons I can't wait for 2008.

Longer School Days, Better Grades?

JasonAvant — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:16:00 GMT

Ferris Bueller's worst nightmare might be the answer to bad grades and dismal test scores. CNN highlights a new trend - extending the length of the school day. The article reports that on average, students in the U.S. spend less time in the classroom than their counterparts in many other industrialized countries. Programs in Massachusetts and other states increase the number of hours per day that students spend in class, as well as the number of days - some programs have kids in school on Saturdays, and may have their summer vacations shortened. In some cases, students end up spending 50% more time in school than they would in traditional programs.

The argument that giving students more time to study will yield positive results is compelling, but let's face it - not a lot of kids are going to be excited about tacking on another two hours' worth of lectures about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. And extending the hours spent in the classroom could cut into after-school sports programs as well as daylight hours that kids could be spending outside at play - an important consideration, considering all of the talk about childhood obesity these days. To combat student boredom and lethargy, schools that extend their hours are offering a variety of non-traditional classes to keep kids engaged. This includes classes that incorporate physical activity, and adding on additional recess time.

I'll admit that I'm on the fence here; as a grown-up, I'm a big fan of work/life balance, and despite the positives, I wonder if longer school days are really a good thing. Yes, getting an education is important, but so too is having some free time. After all, kids will have about 40 to 50 years of sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day to look forward to after graduation.

No Child Left Behind: No Child Moves Ahead Either

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:01:00 GMT

No Child Left Behind. How many times have we heard about this program? I can appreciate the bigger idea behind it - let's not let any our kids fall through the cracks, but the implementation has been a nightmare. Just ask a teacher how they feel about it. You'll never guess what group has really begun to suffer - the gifted and talented kids. I'm not being sarcastic this time. States are cutting the budgets of the GT programs all over the U.S. Read this part of an article from the Duke University website:

Of the 29 states that mandate the identification of gifted students, only 11 provide funds to school systems to specifically support the gifted. Additionally, 14 states spend less than $500,000 per year on gifted education, with eight states expending $0.

Eight states spend zero dollars on gifted and talented programs? How depressing is that? Who are our current leaders expecting to be in their position in 40 years? Please tell me at least some of the people on the cabinet were above average in school.

Sit around and think about that. If you are American (like me) you can rush right off and google search your own state's programs (like I will) and then start researching private schools (like I hope I don't have to) and then panic about how to pay for private schooling (like I probably will). If you aren't an American, now would be a good time to gloat.

Texas Leaves Children Behind to Work at McDonald's Someday

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:56:00 GMT

Education experts say one in three Texas students drops out of school. They're predicting a social crisis in years to come, but I don't know why everyone's worried. With deplorable academic records like that, these Texans could end up as oil magnates, big league baseball team owners or, wait for it ... president.

Of course, life won't be quite as fun for those that don't make it to the White House. According to a Houston Chronicle story, high school dropouts earn about $9,000 less each year than graduates, and there is an increased risk for poverty, illnesses, jail time, fatherhood and writing for blogs. (I really should have listened to my guidance counselor.) And because more kids in the state's largest cities are dropping out than graduating, experts are predicting, well, something close to Armageddon.

"We have a huge problem," the state's lieutenant governor said. That's right -- you do. Because there's no way in hell I'm moving to Texas. California is doing, ahem, just fine, thank you very much.... God I hope the next guy -- or girl (hope hope) -- actually does something about education. Besides leaving children behind, I mean.

Will No Child Left Behind be Left Behind?

Karen Murphy — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:04:00 GMT

This year President George W. Bush's controversial No Child Left Behind act is up for renewal, sparking debate among education think tanks who alternately have declared it to be either the "best or the worst thing ever to happen to schools". Educators in the field seem to agree on one thing, however: that although it "has become part of the education mantra", this law must be changed.

One area everyone agrees that requires the most change is in the field of special education. Educators would like "more flexibility", as NCLB currently requires that "most kids with disabilities take the same tests" as their non-special-ed peers. So, let's see...to increase test scores so we look better, we change the requirements for kids who would fail anyway, right? And then we can just let them slide even more. After all, they'll probably ending up just bagging groceries anyway.

While the NCLB Act was highly touted as something that would bring a more equal playing field to all children, thereby attaining President Bush's dream to "keep workers competitive", educators also say now that even without NCLB, the "education of poor and minority children would still be a low priority" and that the burden is "unfair" to educators. Unfair? If educators don't shoulder the burden of making a quality education available to every child, who will?

Let's face it, not all children learn in the same way, not all children and families maintain the same priorities about education, and not all people are cut out with the same cookie cutters. Is a cookie cutter approach to education really going to work? Does a standardized method of evaluating children's progress through the school system really portray accurately the teaching success of the school, or is it just one more way to attempt to fit round people into square holes?

Admittedly, the public school system in this country leaves a lot to be desired, but the way to fix it so that it works is clearly not the one that is already leaving many children far behind.