Posted on 04/06/2005 7:18:36 AM PDT by thebiggestdog
When I first heard about the No Child Left Behind proposal of President Bush, I knew it was going to be bad news. Bush was credited with raising test scores in Texas by aggressively having educators teach cirriculum that could be measured by standardized tests. The teachers starting teaching to the test, and lo and behold, scores went up. I am not an expert on NCLB, but the philosophy is to have every student proficient in basic skills. Many teachers complained that all they teach is 'the test', but at least things haven't gotten any worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotchicken.com ...
cirriculum? Some kind of cloud?
Without "teaching to the test", the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, trying to teach any other subject will be futile. How can Jane and Jonny read the display charts showing proper condom usage if he can't read? How can Jonny learn how many dime bags are in an ounce if he can't do math? The basics are essential to all other lessons.
NCLB is a prime example of the boon-doggles that result from bipartisan efforts. Bush should have rolled this proposal up and beat Ted Kennedy with it.
If you want to see how "dumbed-down" our education system has become, go to www.warroom.com (Quinn & Rose's site) and you'll find the test required to graduate from the 8th grade in the mid 1920's. I'll be amazed if anyone gets a 75% on it. It's easy to meet standards if you keep lowering them in the name of diversity, esteem-building, etc. They just dumbed-down the SAT again.
I just looked at the War Room (a Pittsburgh based conservative morning show) and found the link to the test which is actually from 1895. You'll also find a complete "Clinton Body Count" in the Most Wanted section.
Here's the URL to the test. http://www.warroom.com/1842finals.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.