The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is making the problem of cheating, low academic standards, and public schools lying to parents, even worse. Under this Act, the Department of Education now requires students to pass standardized tests. Failing schools will lose federal funding and other perks if their students consistently turn in a bad performance on these tests.
Holding schools and teachers accountable, and expecting students to demonstrate what they've learned, sounds like a good idea. But this Act means that badly-taught students, victims of dumbed-down texts and bad teaching methods like new math and whole-language instruction, now have to pass difficult standardized tests they are not ready for.
As a result, millions of students may fail these tests, not because they are dumb, but because the schools never taught them to read properly or solve a math problem without a calculator. Millions of high school students with low reading and math skills now risk not graduating from high school until they pass these tests.
It is important that parents know the unvarnished truth about their children's real academic abilities, but many parents are now frantic because they see their children's failing grades on these new tests. As a result, they complain to school boards that they do not want their children taking these tests or not graduating from high school because of low test scores. To protect their children, many parents are now demanding dumbed-down tests to make sure that their kids graduate from high school and go to college.
The No Child Left Behind Act is now forcing many parents to condone schools that dumb-down their tests and standards, instead of blaming these schools for their children's failure to learn. This is a typical unintended consequence of more government laws that try to fix problems that a government-controlled school system created in the first place.
State lawmakers in New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and other states have yielded to parent pressure. They have scrapped or watered-down high-stakes graduation tests that proved too tough even for students in the so-called better schools in the suburbs.
In Wisconsin, state legislators backed off plans to require high school graduation tests because of strong opposition by parents from affluent suburbs. One parent group calling itself "Advocates for Education" argued that high-stakes testing would not be fair to children and would hurt educational quality in the schools.
Critics of the graduation tests were worried that the tests would put too much pressure on the children. Suburban parents lobbied parent-teacher organizations, and state legislators eventually scrapped the graduation test before a single high-school student had taken it.
Similarly, New York and Massachusetts officials yielded to pressure by parents to set low passing grades for their new graduation tests. In Virginia and Arizona, state boards of education have backed away from graduation tests that were too tough for even the so-called better schools. Only 7 percent of schools in Virginia met new achievement standards, and 9 out of 10 sophomores in Arizona schools failed a new math test.
In New York City, school authorities estimated that over 30 percent of the city's 11th-graders would not be eligible to graduate if the English language standard that will take effect next year was being applied today. Diane Ravitch of the Brookings Institute in Washington is a longtime analyst of New York's public-school system She estimated that in some neighborhoods, less than 5 percent of high-school seniors would qualify to graduate under the new standards.
Parents, particularly those with younger children, should take heed. You don't want to end up with high-school kids who may not graduate because they can't pass the new tests. In Chapters 8, 9, and the Resource section of "Public Schools, Public Menace," I explore how you can circumvent these serious problems by finding real education alternatives outside the public schools.
Joel Turtel is an education policy analyst, and author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."
Contact Information:
Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted ? 2005 by Joel Turtel
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare1) It's not my (pot, beer, cigarettes, etc.), I'm just... Read More
Little Suzy has really been having a hard time getting... Read More
It's no surprise that the self-image and self-esteem of overweight... Read More
This can be a very complicated issue, so I don't... Read More
Kitchens are where everything happens. It's not just where meals... Read More
What do you do when your child begins talking to... Read More
Child care costs are are one of the most expensive... Read More
Recently, our family had the opportunity to care for sisters'... Read More
In the beginning, having children was just a byproduct of... Read More
What is in a name?The answer is everything!Jo J. of... Read More
As parents, we love our children and want to do... Read More
The key to a successful car wash fundraiser event is... Read More
I had just completed a session with 17-year old Julie... Read More
One of the most difficult struggles in life for a... Read More
Despite the theory that people have kids because they want... Read More
I don't know how people raise daughters because I have... Read More
Many parents struggle to know which foods are healthy for... Read More
Giving advice to a teenager is very easy; getting a... Read More
Kids today no longer live the kind of privileged lives... Read More
Children are notoriously bad at drinking enough liquids. They are... Read More
When my son was 18 (and had finished school), he... Read More
People always ask my wife and I: "How did you... Read More
There is a front line and a back end to... Read More
OK, moms and dads out there, we hear you when... Read More
Julia Roberts recently gave birth to twins: Hazel and Phinnaeus.... Read More
Antigo wedding limo ..Do your children have a McChildhood? Do they experience the... Read More
When my oldest boy was really young, he tickled my... Read More
"Setting the alarm on Sunday mornings is inhuman?..God should know... Read More
"Hugging is healthy: it helps the body's immunity system, it... Read More
Valentine day has always been a special day in my... Read More
Nurture and TeachThe single most important thing caregivers can do... Read More
As a mom of 4 who's youngest child is about... Read More
Are you a frustrated parent who sometimes finds it is... Read More
Assuming there are no serious motor problems present, what can... Read More
So you're going to become a father. Now is not... Read More
We all wish that our children should not smoke or... Read More
"Home Schooling ? Look Before You Leap"Are you considering home... Read More
Sex has a lot to answer for ? babies usually... Read More
Many children enjoy TV, and they can learn from it.... Read More
Here is an easy, inexpensive and fun kid experiment for... Read More
As I sit here and reflect on the past two... Read More
A common theme over the past 20 years has been... Read More
Below is a copy of our eating program for Attention... Read More
The distressed adolescent often has feelings of abandonment, emotional detachment,... Read More
Arabella Greatorex, owner of The Natural Nursery, reports on the... Read More
A common problem many times facing parents is Colic. Estimates... Read More
When parents help their children learn to read, they help... Read More
Child care costs are are one of the most expensive... Read More
One of the most prevalent problems of the computer age... Read More
An address given by Rev. David B. Smith... Read More
Parenting |