IT TAKES only the words "No Child Left Behind" to send chills down the spines of American educators. The Bush administration's educational reform agenda has inspired much controversy among legislators and educators alike since its inception in 2001, yet minimal changes have been made to the policy to reflect their concerns. The issue has returned to the forefront in light of Education Secretary Ron Paige's verbal assault of the National Education Association earlier this week.
Spearheaded by the Department of Education, the nominal goal of No Child Left Behind is to minimize disparities in educational quality. It advocates bringing all schools to a minimum standard of excellence. One would be hard-pressed to find somebody who would be unsupportive of this lofty goal. The problem with the NCLB program is that its implementation runs completely contrary to the act's stated goals.
The program funds schools based on how well they meet the standards set by the Department of Education. NCLB measures the achievement of the standards through national standardized testing, now required at every grade level. According to the NEA, this form of testing cannot provide accurate diagnostic information at the individual level, which makes students' needs difficult to assess and respond to appropriately. It seems that the current administration is more concerned with providing statistical proof that a standard is being met than it is about what is actually going on inside schools. The obsession with this standard saps teachers' creativity and creates a hostile environment for learning and a negative attitude toward education among both students and educators.
Besides the fact that standardized testing is a poor measure of educational ability, the preparation for and administration of these tests places a heavy burden on state and local governments in terms of funding.
But have no fear: Our brilliant Department of Education has found a solution to this problem! Under NCLB, federal funding is provided based on individual school performance on these tests. Schools that do not meet the minimum standard are penalized by having a percentage of their funding withdrawn. Local and state governments must then compensate for the funds withheld by the federal government, forcing them to allocate increasing amounts of money to standardized testing. Certainly funneling money away from failing schools will help improve test scores!
Think again. The Department of Education's logic doesn't follow -- more money should be going to failing schools to help them achieve the standards. The "incentive" program simply hasn't worked. The Harvard Civil Rights Project released four reports earlier this month revealing that "the law's sanctions are falling especially hard on minority students and schools," which was a main focus of the program.
At least the Bush administration can be said to hold constant to one principle -- the denial of aid to people that need it most.
America is facing an educational crisis that NCLB only helps foster. Already faced with a shortage of teachers and a decline of entrants into the profession, the act is slowly disillusioning those that are still committed to excellence in our educational system. The Department of Education touts that NCLB provides "more local freedom" for schools. Does this freedom entail spending more money on successive rounds of testing that only prove the same point? More resources must be concentrated on actually helping students than on repeatedly pointing out that schools are in need of help.
Education professionals have consistently and increasingly voiced their concerns regarding NCLB to the Department of Education, but its response has been insufficient. The NEA, a key member of the act's opposition, has lobbied for the repeal of and alteration to the law with only limited success. In addition, former Democratic supporters of the act have become progressively more frustrated with it, citing the Department of Education's frequent misinterpretation or ignoring of some of its stipulations. Most often this affects the carrying out of the law's provisions to help students, such as providing tutoring.
Paige's recent reference to the NEA as a "terrorist organization" only highlights the Bush administration's lack of respect for education professionals and its failure to support alternative reform initiatives to NCLB. The Bush administration must show American educators that the president both trusts them and respects their opinions. Bush must, for once, swallow his pride and admit that the NCLB program has failed to produce a positive outcome. NCLB needs a complete overhaul to produce the kind of results American schools need.
The Department of Education should take further actions to give education professionals more freedom to evaluate and respond to students' problems at the local level, in addition to the resources necessary to do so. While poor testing results may be indicative of local problems, recognition is only the first step. Withdrawal of funding and repeated testing will not alleviate the problem; it will only widen the gap.
Todd Rosenbaum is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.
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