“Yeah, instead of teaching commie propaganda they actually have to teach reading, writing and math. Boo-hoo!”
Nope. Again, it sounds good on paper: Hey, they’re teaching good ol’ 3 R’s. But that is the simplistic view, and it absolutely ignores the very serious flaws in this program. They are simply teaching very specific things for a very specific test. It’s cookie-cutter teaching. Yes, the students might get good scores on the test. So that must mean the program is working, eh? NO! All it means is that they were able to pass this (pretty inadequate, if you’ve seen it) test. THAT’S IT.
Other subjects, such as history and writing and composition, those subjects go out the window. Even creative thinking and creative, tailored curriculum on the “three R” subjects go out the window, too, because there can be no deviation from the curriculum that is designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to get a good score on the all-important TEST.
I know a whole bunch of conservative-minded teachers (and some dems too), and all of them, without exception, HATE NCLB. The most conservative one of the bunch told me that “it is the worst thing that has happened to education in a long, long time.”
And I know of no elementary school teacher, liberal or conservative, that would prefer teaching “commie propaganda” to his or her kids if given the chance. Gimme a break!
Teachers that can do nothing but teach to the test are probably not very good teachers in the first place.
When opportunities opened up for women and they could be lawyers and doctors instead of just nurses and teachers, then the quality of the average teacher dropped, as many of the bright women who used to go into teaching now are going into many other fields.
I don’t know where you are; but here in California, many of the teachers were failing to teach the basics and were stuck on trying not to hurt any kid’s feelings by telling them that any answer was okay, and any spelling was okay, etc.
I’m not impressed by the whining of the teachers’ union. If the kids only learn what is on the test, they will be miles ahead of where they were before.