I don't normally send these, but this is an excellent analogy of NCLB and I
thought some of your staff might enjoy it.
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This is so GREAT, and it puts the RIDICULOUSNESS of the "No Child Left Behind"
nonsense into perspective. Be sure to read to the end...
Whether you're a teacher or a friend of one, I hope you all enjoy and
appreciate this.
NO DENTIST LEFT BEHIND:
My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses
the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my
teeth.
When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the
new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.
"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of dentists
with their young patients?" I said.
" No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"
"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each
patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's
rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below average, and
unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The
plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said.
"Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses to practice."
"That's terrible," he said.
"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to
improve children's dental health in this state?"
"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing
good dentistry."
Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."
"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work
with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control? For
example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from
deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class
neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to
see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much
preventive work. Also many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too
much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the
relationship between sugar and decay. To top it all off, so many of my clients
have well water, which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any
idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"
"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that you, my
dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job, and you needn't
fear a little accountability."
"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as anyone's,
my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be
higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed
most."
"Don't' get touchy," I said.
"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching
and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth. "Try
furious! In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below
average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may
believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and
proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the
most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of
that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists to
my practice if it is labeled below average?"
"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making and
stonewalling won't improve dental health'...I am quoting from a leadingmember
of the DOC," I noted.
"What's the DOC?" he asked.
"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay
persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."
"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he
said hopefully.
The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure
good dentistry?"
"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."
"That's too complicated, expensive and time-consuming," I said. "Cavities are
the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute
measure."
"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think. This
can't be happening," he said despairingly.
"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."
"How?" he asked.
"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist from a practice that
received anexcellent rating to help straighten you out," I said brightly.
"You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show
me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably
had much more experience? BIG HELP!"
"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."
"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and
teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no
regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and
stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one
would ever think of doing that to schools."
I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my
representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely
they will see the point."
He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that
I, a teacher, see in the mirror so often lately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you don't understand why educators still resent the federal NO CHILD LEFT
BEHIND ACT, this may help. If you do understand, you'll really enjoy this
analogy which was forwarded by: John S. Taylor, Superintendent of Schools for
the Lancaster County, PA, School District.
Be a friend and pass this on to a teacher for their sheer enjoyment or to a
congressional representative so they can see the lunacy behind this educational
nightmare.
Thanks,
Jon W. Hueser
Assistant Principal
Curriculum/Technology Director
East Greene Comm. Schools
405 12th Str. South
Box 377
Grand Junction, IA 50107
Phone: 515-738-2411 ext. 241
Fax: 515-738-5719
Website: www.east-greene.k12.ia.us
________________________________________________________________
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