Educational Issue

NCLB

My verdict is still out on this topic. The concept is ideal; however there seems to be several problems with the implementation of the ideal. It seems to me that in not leaving a child behind we have left whole schools behind instead.

The one thing that was not brought up in class was the “bar” or level that the Maine school districts have to meet. I have heard that it was set unrealistically high and that it has affected funding as schools often fail to meet it. I have also heard that Maine is behind when compared to other schools across the nation, is this because the other schools did not set their expectations as high or is it because we have truly dropped the ball? I hope we go into some of this more in depth in class.

The presentation was really good. I especially liked the activity we did on the board with the before and after knowledge. I feel however; that no matter how much we know about the subject our experiences that we have had with NCLB or will have with NCLB are going to greatly affect our opinions.

There were some good points brought up in class later on that had to do with accountability; the teachers seem to be held accountable for the performance of the schools instead of the community. By giving the teachers added paperwork and responsibility we have taken away their ability to be effective in the classroom. Any qualified psychologist will tell you not to take the job home with you as it will affect your home life (as we saw in Teach with Your Heart) so why do we constantly believe that it is the TEACHERS responsibility to teach everything from manners to knowledge as well as be accountable to the state for the performance of our schools? Obviously we will be taking work home with us or we will be setting up a cot in the gym.

I guess my conclusion is the more I know the more I don’t know.