Circumventing Federal/State Laws To Get Education Funds

[ethics]

The <a href="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/esea/">No Child Left Behind Act</a>, the centerpiece of Bush's education policy, calls for states to lose federal education money if a certain percentage of their students do not pass standardized tests. However, Republicans insisted that states be free to establish their own standards. Local control, after all, is a Republican mantra?

The harsh penalties for non-compliance with the law, however, has prompted some states to develop a curious strategy- to ensure that the necessary number of kids pass the tests, states <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/22/education/22EDUC.html">are making the tests easier to pass.</a> (globalaffairs1/affairs)

Fearing that thousands of students would fail the new test and be held back a grade, and that hundreds of schools could face penalties under the federal No Child Left Behind law, the [Texas State Board of Education] voted to reduce the number of questions that students must answer correctly to pass it, to 20 out of 36, from 24, for third-grade reading.

In this case, however, Texas isn't leading the charge to the bottom. Michigan, which used to require a score of 75% to pass the high school English test, lowered the necessary score to 42%!!!! Colorado now counts students who pass only part of the test the same as students who pass the whole thing. Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Hawai'i are now considering waiving federal money altogether rather than attempt to comply with the law.

Moreover, it's entirely possible that the situation could get worse- the law requires that 100% of students pass the tests by the year 2014. In order to make sure that everybody passes the test, will the test become so easy that anybody could pass it?

If anyone wants to know what's wrong with our kids? Why they can't write? Why they don't enjoy reading, among many other problems? This is definitely one of the problems, at least in my opinion?

[Fiona]

Tests, schmests, I send my son to a waldorf curriculum charter school where he doesn't have to take these stupid tests. And someday when he does take them, voluntarily, their students do better overall anyway.
According to the proficiency tests I could have graduated high school in third grade, whoopdee freakin doo... it's overall, education complete with enriched cultural experiences that is important, not stinking tests.

back OT- I think if you HAVE the test... you should not reduce the score needed to&nbsp;pass. It was completely appalling to me to see that the tests i recently took required only a 70% to pass... for reading, writing, math... for an EDUCATOR!!!!!! :eek: sickening...

[Frodo Lives]

Computers and the internet in school is a big problem also. Kids no longer have to write by hand, so there handwriting skill goes to hell. Not to mention spellchecker. Kids no longer need to use their own mind to look up stuff in an encyclopedia, which they need to find in a library. All they need to do is do a Google search. I am sure there are more things I can't think of at the moment.

[ethics]

Wow, Fionoa, well said.

Tell me more about curriculum charter schools?

[Fiona]

sure... ;) lemme do my research ;)

[ethics]

Originally posted by Frodo Lives
Computers and the internet in school is a big problem also. Kids no longer have to write by hand, so there handwriting skill goes to hell. Not to mention spellchecker. Kids no longer need to use their own mind to look up stuff in an encyclopedia, which they need to find in a library. All they need to do is do a Google search. I am sure there are more things I can't think of at the moment.

Those are very good points, Frodo.

[Fiona]

http://www.awsna.org/

http://www.steinerwaldorf.org.uk/

http://www.wehomeschool.org/

http://www.steinercollege.edu/

http://www.iedx.org/article_1.asp?ContentID=FAQ5&amp;SectionGroupID=PARENTS

&nbsp;

Badically there are Waldorf Schools all around, here and there, ya gotta find em. Often these are private schools and require a tuition. I wanted desperately for my eldest to attend but at that time we could not afford it. When my third son came around to needing a school Lo and Behold, the local Waldorf had collapsed financially and was reopened by the parents and teachers thru a charter school. Charter schools are wonderful because 1. free 2. they do not have to follow the distinct guidelines of a school district. 3. free (kidding) the parents volunteer to make a better environment for the kids, (and keep it free)

[ethics]

Thanks Fiona. Actually found a few in NYC. :)

[Misu]

Originally posted by ethics
If anyone wants to know what's wrong with our kids? Why they can't write? Why they don't enjoy reading, among many other problems? This is definitely one of the problems, at least in my opinion?

I think the fact states are lowering the standards is a symptom of the real problem here, ethics.

It doesn't make sense what the federal government is doing to schools. This is what I see going on (and I may be wrong, and if so, someone correct me) :

- Schools receive a minimal amount of funding, basically the bare-minimum to function.

- Textbooks are old, classes are overcrowded, buildings are unkept, teachers are overwhelmed and way way way underpaid.

- The Federal gov't tells schools that they must now have a certain percentage of students pass a standardized test - or they lose the already pathetic funding they receive.

- So schools scramble and dedicate much of their time to prepping students for the tests (here it's the FCAT, where something like 43000 second graders FAILED this year in Florida), rather than spending time teaching from the regular lesson plans.

- Those children who do not pass the standardized tests are then left back. But because of the funding problems many states are going through, there is no money to run summer school. So because of 1 test (not the grades a child recieved throughout the year, but 1 test), and because there is no longer summer school, that child gets left back.

- Those schools that do not have the req'd number od student passing lose funding, can't afford their teachers so start letting teachers go, can't afford to update the books or provide gym class or music class or art class or anything that isn't the 3R's, and the ones that truly suffer are the kids who are now left holding the bag of shit that we, as a society, have handed them.

It sucks to be a kid right now :(

[ShinyTop]

This is so sad.

By the way, the states are way off base.

The feds are stupid to set an unachievable goal for 1014.

Every tax payer who votes against more taxes for school is at least partly responsible.


We are losing this battle and that means many lost children.

[ethics]

Originally posted by ShinyTop



We are losing this battle and that means many lost children.

This is what I lacked in my original post. The victims here are our kids at the expense of making some monetary number.