young children, resulting in overwhelming pressure to teach to the
test and great anxiety for differently abled learners.
I have said before that I believe that test taking is a skill that is
separate from knowledge and most other skills. I can say this with
pride as it is a skill I happen to have.... so I can be sure that this
is not an excuse for me. Given a multiple choice test on just about
any topic, I will at least pass and will probably do quite well.
However, this is not true of everyone, nor is what we are measuring
here my academic progress in a given time period.
A lot of you are aware that I homeschool. I subscribe to a number of
homeschooling lists and am in touch with quite a number of other
homeschooling parents. One of the things that seems to come up quite a
bit is that children who do not fit the mold are now treated as
discipline not teaching problems; it works out better for the school's
stats that way.
While I can sympathize with an administrator's fight to save a school,
individual children should not have to be sacrificed to make this
happen, and I applaud the parents who say hell no the system is not
goign to eat *my* child alive. And again, I can say this as I have
bright verbal children who read instantly and test several grades
above the norm. It is not an excuse for me, it is my considered and
objective opinion.
This law has only accelerated the trend towards institutionalizing
children, especially in inner cities, where a LOT of the day is spent
on walking in line and not taking in class. And the ones who can't are
referred for mind-numbing substances.
I'll shut up now. But the educational system is in very big trouble
and while accountability superficially seems like a good idea, there
was to be a better way to implement it.
Dana
> As for the No Child Left Behind, I am very much against how its set
> up. While I thoroughly agree with the goals, consider this, there are
> something like over 50 different ways a school can fail, but only one
> weakly defined wa to succeed. I heard one educator worry that given
> the way things are set up, in 5 years over 90% of all public schools
> will fail. Its interesting that even though these goals have been
> mandated by the Department of Education, no funding has been allocated
> to help schools meet the NCLB goals.
>
> I could rant all day about this but have to take one of the ferrets to
> the vet - a checkup only.
>
> larry
>
>
> On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 23:11:50 -0700 (PDT), Sam Morris
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > How bout that? I agree with you. :)
> >
> > I don't know much about it but I thought the main
> > focus was standardized testing across the country.
> > Standardized testing is as debatable as school
> > uniforms. I believe the effort was a noble one but I
> > don't think it's going over well.
> >
> > As for the abstinence issue, I think it's just a
> > morale message and not part of the program or at least
> > it has no effect on the funding. I could be wrong.
> > Maybe I'll read up on it Monday.
> >
> > -sm
> >
> > --- "Larry C. Lyons" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > Actually legitimate peer reviewed research shows
> > > that unlike the far
> > > right and the administration's fantasies,
> > > abstinence-only programs
> > > don't work (see references below).
> > >
> > > To date a very few studies meeting reasonable
> > > scientific criteria have
> > > measured the impact of abstinance only programs on
> > > sexual behavior.
> > > The small number of studies, combined with
> > > limitations, preclude any
> > > conclusion about the impact of programs. Moreover,
> > > no studies have
> > > concluded that abstinence-only programs delay
> > > intercourse.
> > >
> > > Overall the recent research, when it does not persue
> > > a political
> > > agenda, and follows sound research practices, does
> > > not support
> > > abstinence only education. What does appear to work
> > > is behaviorally
> > > based methods of teaching kids alternatives to
> > > agreeing to sex, condom
> > > and other forms of birth control are generally
> > > effective in reducing
> > > teen pregnancy rates.
> > >
> > > Kirby D. Do Abstinence-Only Programs Delay the
> > > Initiation of Sex Among
> > > Young People and Reduce Teen Pregnancy? Washington,
> > > DC: National
> > > Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2002.
> > >
> > > Kirby D. Emerging Answers: Research Findings on
> > > Programs to Reduce
> > > Teen Pregnancy. Washington, DC: National Campaign to
> > > Prevent Teen
> > > Pregnancy; 2001.
> > >
> > > Pew Charitable Trust Study:
> > >
> > http://www.pew-partnership.org/familieschildren/youthdev/preventteenpreg.html
> > >
> > > Voices for Children Study:
> > >
> > http://www.voicesforamericaschildren.org/Template.cfm?Section=Youth_Development1&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=1050.
> > >
> > > Wilcox BL, Limber SP, O'Bierne H, Bartels CL.
> > > Federally Funded
> > > Adolescent Abstinence Promotion: An Evaluation of
> > > Evaluations. Paper
> > > presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for
> > > Research on
> > > Adolescence, Boston, MA, March 10, 1996.
> > >
> > > hth,
> > > larry
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 21:31:05 -0500, Andy Ousterhout
> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > Doug,
> > > > Dana is in AZ, what about you?
> > > >
> > > > Also, educate me, is Teen Pregnancy part of No
> > > Child or just a result of Far
> > > > right BS on abstain or else?
> > > >
> > > > Andy
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Doug White [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 5:47 PM
> > > > To: CF-Community
> > > > Subject: Re: DNC
> > > >
> > > > Same here, where the program has been a huge
> > > failure, and the high school
> > > > dropout rate is higher than ever, as is the teen
> > > pregnancy rate.
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: dana tierney
> > > >
> > > > Andy
> > > >
> > > > Don't get me started on No Child Left Behind :)
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Andy Ousterhout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > > Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 16:58:45 -0500
> > > > Subject: RE: DNC
> > > > To: CF-Community
> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > >
> > > > Point of clarification on No Child Left Behind
> > > -- Chicago Tribune reported
> > > > today that test scores for underprivileged are
> > > up and No Child Left Behind
> > > > program gets much of the credit.
> > > >
> > > > Andy
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >________________________________
>
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