December 13, 2004

• I knew it was bad…now I’m learning how bad.  I’ll give a more in depth summary soon, but this book is one of the leading efforts to combat the recent gov’t policy, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which has been praised by some for its bipartisan support, but, like many government policies, the people it effects most, students, teachers, school districts, are united in their opposition to this policy, which focuses on high-stakes standardized testing not only as a measure of success, but as a means to discipline those schools who do not meet their definition of success.  The unintended consequences of this policy are dire for many schools, especially low-income and minority schools, for diverse schools, or schools with learning disabled students.  Drop-out rates are increasing, those schools that most need funding, good teachers, and support, are quickly being labeled “in need of improvement,” and then “failing,” resulting in cuts of federal funding, a loss of other funds to pay for additional private tutoring, or to pay for students to go to other schools, as well as a loss of qualified teachers who prefer the sanity and higher pay that comes from working in wealthier white neighborhoods. 

  
  

  Interestingly enough…while public schools will increasingly be labeled as “failing,” this failing will be a direct result of federal policy.  By changing the defintion of failing, or, by implementing a different policy that actually helped develop successful schools, we wouldn’t see so many schools “fail.”  But…that is the image that is being created, and, like other aspects of our society, people are being led to believe a federal program is in a crisis, and to develop a sense of fear that something must be done.  From the war in Iraq, to privatizing social security, to privatizing education, we are starting to see how changes in our society are less a result of well-thought out and transparent policies, and instead policies built around mis-information, building up fear, a lack of media coverage, and political rhetoric that is short on logic and facts.

  
  

  Another interesting thing to note…I met the authors of this book in San Francisco back in November at an education forum.  I also met one of the people they cite, Kris Van Wald, President of the Association of Experiential Education, out in Boulder.  She discussed how high-stakes testing is resulting in a decrease in experiential learning activies such as field-trips and other out of class experiences.  The book also quotes a Time Magazine article that I similarly quoted in my self-published book, that discusses some of the ill-effects of high-stakes testing, including the marginalization of a civic education, which requires in depth learning that is traded for learning 1000 years of history in one-year.  All of this was “positive affirmation,” for me for my future writing career.  What I’m lacking in getting my book published isn’t content or a market audience, it’s just taking the necessary steps of getting connected with a publisher.

  
  

  Will post an essay I’m working on tomorrow for the New York Times college website, and will be looking forward to your comments.

  
  

  -dan

  • 11:38 pm
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