Since we homeschool, I haven't paid much attention to school issues. But I am curious about this one.
When I was in school, you could count on first graders knowing the alphabet, second graders adding simple sums, third graders reading "real" books (no See Spot Run for us),and so on down the line. If you didn't learn, you didn't pass.
Now, if the No Child Left Behind standard is conjugating Amo by second grade, I can see why there would be problems. But its my understanding that this act states kids must learn to read, write, and understand mathematical concepts.
Why is this impossible to achieve?
It's very possible to achieve with a majority of kids. The mandate is to do this with "all" kids (ie, concentrate on getting the lowest-performing children of crackheads meeting standards). It's called egalitarianism, the desire for everybody (except the elites, of course) to be "equal". But of course, there are some percentage who are not interested, so the game turns into dumbing down the education of the smarter kids so as to minimise the disparity that way.
It shouldn't be.
In some school systems, it's not done now for various reasons. The two major ones I know of are that principals don't want failures and don't allow teachers to retain students, and some students with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia aren't capable of mastering all the skills. There are also the teachers who've bought into the latest pop psychology and are afraid they will ruin the self-esteem of the students if they fail them.
Why don't principals want failures? There are several reasons for that. A very important reason in some districts is that if a higher proportion of minority students fail, the school system will be accused of being racist and there may be lawsuits.
Another reason is that if students fail instead of going on through the system, for a time at least there will be more students in that school, more teachers will be needed, and there may not be enough classrooms or funds to handle all the students.
No matter what the reason, the students who don't learn the skills they need to succeed are the ones who suffer in the long run.
RD, No. The act states that ALL children, "..must learn to read, write, and understand mathematical concepts." equally well. And, it s not impossible to achieve. But, it is ONLY possible at "THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR!! Peace and love, George.
Because:
1. Curricula no longer have fact drills as their core methodology, or even priority.
2. Teachers have been stripped of the power to enforce any meaningful degree of discipline.
Well, the NCLB includes all childen--autistic, Mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and ESOL (a child in this country for ONE year, must be measured, regardless of their literacy).
I doubt that a child with a 40 is ever going to "get" algebra. Yet, they are included in the measurement.
… because NOT ALL third graders will be reading at the third grade level. SOME will be more advanced, and SOME will be behind their peers. The “No Child Left Behind Act” mandates that NONE will be behind their peers … and NONE will be more advanced. This is impossible.