WBUR's radio show, On Point, featured "Education and No Child Left Behind" on March 29, 2006. Here is the show description on the web site.
A big new report out this week says that thousands of American schools have found one way to try to raise reading and math scores: cut back on teaching everything else. President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program punishes schools that don't hit their marks on reading and math test scores.
Now, in a remarkable display of perhaps unintended consequences, a national survey finds 71 percent of schools squeezing out the rest. Science, social studies, history, music, art -- all pushed to the margins. In some schools, it's reading in the morning, and math in the afternoon. Period.
Hear about the narrowing of the curriculum of American education to reading, writing -- and testing.
It is interesting how many schools are now "teaching to the test" and have bi-passed their students education. Schools are focused at least five hours per day on making kids "decode" and "calculate" so they can pass a state mandated test. If the little monkey's can be trained to perform to standard on these tasks, the state considers them "not left behind". It's a brave new world.
My wife and I finally decided to homeschool our children in the mid 80s after we got fed up with the nonsense that goes on in schools. The homeschooling slogan of the day was "Don't let schooling interfere with your education."
Americans spend billions and billions of dollars on schooling, and the concern is that lower socioeconomic students are not getting the program. As Tom Ashbrook, the host of On Point, asks repeatedly "Does whipping the horse harder make it go faster?"
It seems ridiculous to think that more of the same in the long run will produce better results. "Buckling down" as it is called, means that schools focus exclusively on math and science and ignore science, social studies, art, music, literature, and other topics. In many instances "buckling down" seems to demoralize teachers and students even if students are finally able to produce the mediocre results that allow them to pass minimal state standards. Having extinguished their spirit, by golly, maybe the little critters can perform their tricks for the government task masters.
Thomas Sobol, former Commissioner of Education in New York State, and now Professor of Education at Columbia Univerity, spouts the tired old line that if only we spent more money, and teachers were better educated, then things would improve. This is utter nonsense and not something I would expect an educated man to say.
In a healthy environment, kids are natural leaners. I know, I taught my kids at home. I saw them learn, and learn well, and with joy, curiosity, and creativity. To send them to school would kill their spirit. I wanted my kids to get an education, a complete and whole education, of their mind, character, and spirit, something they were not getting in a public school.
Ever wonder why schooling is compulsory in a free democracy?
Some educational psychologists have considered public schooling a form of child abuse. In some circumstances, I tend to agree. Schools have become armed fortresses with their metal detectors and cop monitors in hallways. Powerful cliques that bully kids if they are not dressed right, or act right, have life lasting negative effects on kids. Coming of age movies like Mean Girls, Saved, Heathers, Carrie, Empire Falls, etc. are just a few which graphically depict the psychological damage done to kids in the modern industrialized public school.
To listen to this disturbing show, click on the link below.
Link: On Point : Education and No Child Left Behind - Education and No Child Left Behind.