Posted on 03/31/2008 9:34:20 AM PDT by GoldwaterInstitute
Opting Out of No Child Left Behind : Now Arizona must get its own house in order
by Matthew Ladner, Ph.D.
It looks like Arizona is set to opt out of No Child Left Behind. Arizonans need transparency and accountability in public schooling, but they do not need NCLB.
The Goldwater Institute has written extensively about the flaws of NCLB. Chief among them is the fact that NCLB creates an entirely perverse incentive for states to lower their academic standards in order to meet a federal goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014.
A recent University of California Berkley study that found 10 of 12 states studied had dummied down their state accountability tests. States have engaged in a "race to the bottom," and sadly, Arizona is one of the leaders. Arizona parents and taxpayers need reliable testing data, and currently, NCLB hinders that vital goal.
If Arizona withdraws from NCLB, it must get its own house in order on testing and accountability. The state lowered the passing threshold on AIMS, and its version of the TerraNova exam is completely unreliable. This is Arizona's mess, and Arizona must clean it up regardless of what happens in Washington.
The bipartisan support for the measure calling for Arizona to opt out of NCLB is no fluke. Arizonans of all stripes prefer to manage their own affairs, especially when the alternative is federal micromanagement.
Fifty years ago, Senator Barry Goldwater opposed the first federal K-12 spending bill, noting that "federal aid to education invariably means federal control of education." The decision to opt out would result in foregoing federal funds, but would also free Arizona schools from considerable federal compliance costs.
Lawmakers will certainly hear from those fearful of losing federal funds, but those funds represent only two percent of Arizona's budget. Policymakers of Arizona, unite. You have nothing to little to lose but your chains.
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute.
Want the simple solution? If your standards are better than the NCLB, simply petition Bush to use your standards instead of his. He will grant you the waiver and you can use your own standards.
As a product of Arizona public schools, I don’t think I was underserved (in 4 out of 5 schools) and the testing was done pretty frequently during a K-12 experience. (I remember because the tests were offered in Navajo as well as English and they would never let me take it in Navajo.)
There are undoubtedly some technical bureaucratic problems with NCLB for an already high producing state. But I’m very skeptical of the idea that somehow states are having to ‘dumb down’ anything to pass the tests from NCLB. Just like the entire ‘teach the test’ mantra from the teachers union mob is just a cop out since they weren’t teaching kids anything which COULD be tested.
Bad schools squeal like pigs when you demand testing but good schools would be looking for a chance to shine. The same would go for individual teachers and/or entire school systems.
It seems the problem isn't with the NCLB but with a state educational system dumbing down rather than raising up which NCLB seeks. To find the culprit ladies, look in the mirror!!
If ALL kids must be "proficient" or a school is punished, then lowering the level of proficiency becomes the only way to avoid punishment.
Most kids can become proficient. But students with disabilities, students who don't speak English, students who live in chaotic homes with drug/alcohol abuse and parents who move them to another school every few months are all expected to pass as well.
I am friends and acquaintances with several teachers from a very diverse range of ages and political leanings. Every single one of them thinks that NCLB is a piece of garbage.
The Feds have no business in what should be a state & local matter anyway.
There will always be some kids who fail but that’s why the test scores are averaged. Unless the non-english speakers or drug-addicted homehold kids are the majority or near majority, so school should be failing.
No school flunks because of a couple of kids. But the act was designed to prevent massive failures like the systems which existed in many larger metro areas.
I would like to see the federal gov’t OUT of local schools. I hope more states opt for this.
I will attest that my son’s school definitely TEACHES to the MCAS. We do not pressure him at all about this test, but the principal gets really worked up about it.
The math questions are ridiculous, they appear to be written by an English major NOT a mathemetician.
My daughters were in public school through 3rd grade, and my son is still in public school and he is in 8th.
The public schools definitely did teach to the test. Because social studies and science aren’t part of NCLB, those subject areas have been pretty much ignored especially in elementary school.
My daughters have had 2 years of private school for 4th & 5th grade, and I think they already know more science than my 8th grade son.
Also, in public school the tests tend to be multiple choice tests because that is what the standardized testing is.
My daughters’ tests have multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, and essay components. They are gaining a lot of critical thinking skills.
My son is going to go to a private high school, and we’re hoping that he’ll be able to make up some of the skills that he hasn’t learned in public school.
When you have 40% or higher of your kids that come from families who are poor and don’t speak English, it is near impossible for a school to not be failing.
What I have also found out is that there is a lot of movement in the illegal immigrant population. Kids are constantly going from one school to the other. How can a teacher be responsible for how kids do in her class when 1/3 of the class comes in the middle of the school year or if the child came from an underperforming school the year before.
All the mess with education is not just the teachers fault. Illegal immigration has caused our education system to deteriorate immensely, and more money will not fix this broken system.
I don't believe you are correct here. Scores are not reported as averages, or talked about as averages. The scores are broken down and discussed as X% of 4th graders scored whatever. X% of minority students scored whatever and those groups are targeted if they are below proficient.
I'll ping a couple of teachers and see if they can clarify.
I worked in an inner city school, in a second grade classroom, when my own son was in second grade. The kids learned roughly the same material in very similar ways. The difference was the inner city kids needed everything taught at a slightly lower level. They simply weren't producing the same quality of work.
After my second grade experience, I was in a kindergarten class. Even with full day kindergarten (my son's school is half day kindergarten), these kids were behind in general knowledge, and all basic skills.
It is very difficult to take kids who start out behind and bring them up to grade level. They aren't computers, where if you just work faster, you can get it all in. Often you have to work a bit slower while trying to build the background they need. Then you add in the students' chaotic homes, the disruptions because they're moving in and out of schools and the result is entire schools that fail.
There was very little difference in teaching methods, curriculum, teacher education or class size between these two schools. The major differences were parental income and involvement and teacher attitude. The teachers in the low-income school were, understandably, pessimistic.
No legislation can fix what is at the root of the problem.
If early childhood education worked, I'd be it's number one fan. But it doesn't. We aren't dealing with merely a birth to 5 experience deficit, it continues.
While I'm sitting in my nice little suburban house feeding my children a home-cooked meal and talking about what the kids did at school that day, extending their knowledge and making sure they learn good homework habits and self-discipline what are those inner-city kids doing?
Ooops! Gotta go! My 9 year old wants to continue reading the book we are reading together. His reading skills are a bit weak and by reading together, we can discuss the story and increase his comprehension and he is exposed to more interesting work than his ability to read and understand will provide.
How many low-income kids are reading with mom today?
Government schools need to be entirely shut down! Government schools, First Amendment Right, and freedom of conscience can NOT co-exist.
A school can indeed ‘flunk’ because of a small number of kids. Remember that one student can be placed in up to 6 categories. So 1 child who is a minority, special education, limited English, free and reduced lunch, and a poor attender can potentially ding all 5 of those categories, plus the one for sex. It doesn’t take many of those kids before a school is in trouble. Now, that is an extreme example, more typical is one for race, special education, and free and reduced lunch. But every school has a handful that cover every possible category, and if their attendance is poor also, then it adds up very very quickly.
Riddle me this: Standardized tests are designed so that some percentage of students fail. If too many students in the control group pass a certain question, it is rewritten to ensure that more fail. This is typically done by making the language in the question more complex. The desired outcome is a bell curve of scores. The middle of which is deemed proficient.
How can we demand that 80% of students reach proficiency when the test MAY BE designed to ensure that never happens?
I know just enough about testing to be dangerous. I don't KNOW that this is occurring, but I suspect it could be part of the problem.
The scores aren’t averaged - a certain number must meet a certain level and the target goes up every year until in 2015 (I THINK that is the year) the target is 100% of all students will pass
No exaggeration - look up the NCLB docs - there comes a time when 100% of students must pass. Only 5% of those with IEP's are exempted and all foreign born students must take the test in English after 1 year of instruction. The 5% exemptions are saved for the severe/profound retarded, the non-communicative autistics, and any others that can squeeze in some way. (Severe/profoundly retarded == IQ below 50) Kids with a 51 and up IQ must take and pass all grade level reading and math tests.
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I wonder if the fact that Margaret Spellings lives in NoVa has anything to do with the reluctance? Her girls attend public schools in this area. (That fact was in the WaPo last year, so it's no secret I'm letting out of the bag)
There was something in the Virginian Pilot about this just yesterday.
I’ll see if I can find it, after I check over homework :)
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