They’re going to have to change “NCLB” to “NCLBE,” as in “No Child Left Behind except…”
The latest groups of children to be thrown into that “except” category are English Language Learners and special ed students. Nearly three years ago, the federal government approved New York state’s accountability plan. New York’s plan recognized that it would be unfair and inappropriate for students with special needs and students who are newly arrived English language learners (ELL) to take the same English language exams as the rest of the student population. Until now, students who had attended school in the U.S. for less than three years were not required to take the ELA exam. Instead, they were given an annual English proficiency test to help measure their progress toward English fluency.
But this summer, the Bush administration changed its mind once again. The U.S. Department of Education reversed its policy for ELL and special education students. Now, students with special needs and students who are newly arrived ELL students will be forced to take the same ELA exams as the rest of the student population. This change in policy means that more of our students and our schools will be labeled as “in need of improvement.”
The U.S. Education Department is dead wrong. As a bilingual teacher at Bilingual Bicultural Mini-School in Manhattan. I know first hand how misguided this change in policy is. It’s based on punishment, not progress. It’s not sound education policy and it’s not fair. Our focus should be on meeting students’ needs, not on finding new ways to label students and schools as “failures.”
All of us support high academic standards and high standards of accountability, and we support testing as a tool to help measure and improve student progress. But this change is educationally unsound. It undermines the gains we’ve made in closing the performance gap for English language learners and students with disabilities. Forcing a child recently arrived in the U.S. who speaks little or no English to take the eighth-grade ELA is ridiculous.
There’s a great piece by Juan Gonzalez in the September 27 Daily News that lays out how ridiculous and hurtful it will be. Just thinking about what this will mean in the classroom should make every UFT member want to get on a bus to Washington and ask the President exactly what he’s trying to do. And while we’re down there, we should be asking every member of Congress to stand up to the president and demand he change this policy.
No Child Left Behind is a good idea gone wrong, and President Bush and his supporters in Congress keep making things worse. It’s the same tactics bullies always use: If they don’t do something the right way, then they’ll try to shift attention away from their failings by picking on those less able to defend themselves.
NYSUT has been pushing the New York State Education Department to stand up to Washington, but so far, State Ed doesn’t seem interested in taking on this fight. It looks like, once again, we will have to stop the bullying ourselves.
Maria Neira is the First Vice-President of NYSUT and long time UFT member.
3 Comments:
1 phyllis c. murray
· Sep 30, 2006 at 5:08 pm
In “Beyond No Child Left Behind ” Thomas Sobol states the following:
“Jefferson tells us and most of us know, our form of government and ways of life depend upon an educated citizenry. Preparing young people for effective participation in a democratic society is a fundamental purpose of our public schools.” Sobol continues, “Today we are experiencing an influx of “foreign” children, largely from Asia and Central America. How we handle these children – who will soon become a majority in large parts of our country – will determine what their lives will be, and what ours will be in turn. The stakes are high, so the questions abound: how can we best get these children to speak, read, and write English? Who goes to school, with whom? How should schools communicate with non-English-speaking parents? What kinds of tests should immigrant children be required to pass? How can we close the “achievement gap” between these children and those in the majority population? How can we make “Americans” of these children in their own lifetime, while respecting the cultural identity of their families?
We need to raise and debate these questions now, or leave the outcomes to blind chance and happenstance. One way or another, our nation will be changed. ”
I believe academic excellence must be the goal for all students and educators. Our schools must not be allowed to become battlefields for minorities and other students. Education must be the sole priority. Hence, these standards must be set high, and all students must be held accountable. The reward for achieving academic excellence also must be clear. Teachers also must be treated as professionals, rewarded as professionals and held accountable to the standards of their profession. They must be allowed and, in fact, encouraged to be involved the decision that affect their work and the academic performance of their students.
We need to do whatever we can to provide the resources all students need. Our goal should be to establish standards the will challenge all students to do their best, and that will help schools to stay focused on their primary mission… the education of our students as well as “preparation of our students for effective participation in a democratic society.”
No child should be left behind. Nor should
the one-size fits all test practice become the new mantra for NCLB.
Phyllis C. Murray
UFT Chapter Leader
District 8 Region 2
2 phyllis c. murray
· Oct 1, 2006 at 3:20 pm
For additional information:
Beyond No Child Left Behind
Guest Commentary by Tom Sobol may be located by using the address below.
http://www.forumforeducation.org/blog/index.php?post=37
Phyllis C. Murray
3 institutional memory
· Oct 1, 2006 at 8:30 pm
It’s even worse than we could have imagined.
The latest update on NCLB’s thuglike tactics appeared in today’s (October 1) Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901333_pf.html