Beyond NCLB
This essay, written by George Wood, Director of
the Forum for Education and Democracy, originally appeared
on the Forum’s web log and is part of our continuing
opinion series. The author’s views do not necessarily
represent those of the Access Network.
I have to admit that when the No Child Left Behind
(NCLB) act was passed I paid little attention. As a
high school principal I had other things on my mind,
like developing a literacy program, finding funding
for our students to do more internships, senior project
night, next year’s schedule, and scraping together
enough dimes from vending machines to send our juniors
on college visits. Federal legislation was the last
thing on my mind; I was interested in the quality of
work going on in our classrooms.
When I did note what was going on it seemed benign,
maybe even beneficial to my work. A new push to support
schools that served our most needy students would be
a good thing, and according to our staff it would also
mean a few dollars for the high school from funds that
were usually just targeted to the elementary schools.
Not a bad deal, slightly more money for all our schools,
a new fund for the literacy work we were doing, and
another sound-good federal bill that probably would
not impact us.
I was wrong.
Now, five years into NCLB, there is no doubt in my
mind that we are on the wrong path to educational renewal.
The signs are everywhere, and we have noted them in
posts at the Forum for Education and Democracy’s
web log (9/12/06,
6/25/06,
3/28/06,
and 4/5/06).
More evidence comes forth daily, including the recent
report by Richard Rothstein and his colleagues on
the fallacy of proficiency for all.
What haunts me the most about all the sound and fury
around NCLB is that this legislation, and the enabling
legislation in all too many states, simply locks in
place the very structures of schooling that we want
to change. Here are a few examples:
Commissions, college presidents, and business leaders
call for schools to help students develop higher order
thinking skills, the ability to problem solve, creativity,
and team work. Yet federal and state accountability
systems rely on high stakes standardized tests as
the only measure of student progress and school accountability—tests
that focus on none of these skills but rather on the
ability to memorize and guess. Schools have abandoned
the very programs that develop the skills citizens
need such as internship programs, interdisciplinary
curricula, field trips, and labs in order to spend
time in drilling for these tests.
Everyone from Oprah to Bill Gates has suddenly
realized there are a large number of kids that drop
out and never graduate. (Pardon me if I wonder why
it took them so long to find this out—could
it be where they live?) Talk to drop outs and they
will tell you that they leave school because they
are bored, feel that no one cares about them, or have
other family needs they have to attend to. The solution?
State after state adds more course requirements for
graduation leading to less flexibility for the engaging
experiences that we know keep kids in school.
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Nothing rings truer to parents or kids than the
fact that good teachers make all the difference. However,
enshrined in NCLB and state curriculum models are
strategies designed to ‘teacher proof’
teaching. Scripted curriculum, most clearly seen in
reading programs, frequent testing, and data-driven
instruction (read ‘test score driven instruction’)
are all tools to control teaching rather than professionalize
it. No wonder so many people are leaving the field.
The sad thing is that none of this is new. We have
relied for decades on test scores as outcomes, more
graduation requirements, and teacher-proofed curriculum
(textbook manufacturers are the best at this with their
prepackaged lesson plans, tests, films, DVDs and the
like). They did not create the school renewal we wanted
then and they will not do it now or in the future.
The reason I took leave from my high school this year
and joined The Forum was to try and turn around this
misguided agenda for our schools. I miss the families,
children, and staff of that school everyday. But I am
also tired of those folks being lead on by politicians
who are more concerned with sound bites and talking
points than they are with doing the right thing when
it comes to our children.
At The Forum we are committed to taking seriously
the mission of our public school system—the development
in all of our children the tools necessary for lifelong
learning and engaged citizenship. To that end, we are
studying not how to reform NCLB, but how to
replace it. For that we need your help.
Our goal is to provide educational materials for legislators
at the state and federal level that look at both short
and long term strategies for providing every child with
a promising future. We have been gathering input on
this around the country, and you can read the summaries
of Town Hall meetings we have held in Chicago
and Connecticut.
If you like, you can also see Forum Convener Deborah
Meier’s speech at our Chicago town meeting by
clicking here.
We invite your input as well. Imagine if you were in
a hearing in Washington or your state capital. You are
there because for once, someone is going to listen to
people in education who actually do the work of helping
kids learn. This is your chance, as they have asked
you two questions:
How would you reform current educational policy
so that it at least does no harm to the schools and
programs about which you care; and
If you could simply rewrite state, federal, or local
educational policy, what would you do.
You open your notes, and you begin to read…well,
instead, send them to the Forum by clicking here.
We’ll read them, and pay attention, and your ideas
can help shape the Forum’s campaign to provide
every child a promising future.
Prepared December 19, 2006. Please visit the Forum
for Education and Democracy and its web
log for more information.
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