-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Diane Wiley Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 11:40 PM To: Minneapolis Issues Forum Subject: Fw: [Mpls] NCLB is anti-civil rights wine in civil rights wineskins
Anderson & Turpin wrote: "Perhaps school districts have required testing for some time for school district to be reported to various depts. of education. But it is important for the public to receive this information, and for this information to be reported by school, not just by district. Also NCLB requires specific actions, which will force schools to try to fix what's wrong, not just make excuses." Diane Wiley reply: Well, the Strib and the Press have been printing the reading and math scores, school by school, for every school in Minnesota, for many many years. I've only been paying attention to it for about 12 years, so I know it's at least that long. And, you could always find out about the "sub-groups" performance from the department, they had the statistics and you could find out who the kids were who didn't pass. As for "fixing" the schools -- who do you think is going to "fix" all these schools? I agree with you that we should concentrate of the lousy schools which need drastic restructuring, but I don't think that NCLB or not, there is the money to do what needs to be done to "fix" those schools. Mark Anderson again: Minnesota has publicized test results by school for 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade for many years. This was good, although the NCLB requirements for testing every grade is better. I didn't realize I could get sub-group information. It is better to have it publicized, so one doesn't have to dig for information. In that sense, for MN, NCLB is an extension of the already successful process we had. I don't believe that money is required to fix the schools, only a clearer focus on what is important. I don't have a complete vision as to what needs to be done, but with my own kids I've seen a lot of activity in the schools that isn't very focused on improving their educations. Two items I can think of are all the field trips that kids go on these days, and all the after school activities available. I'm not sure how much time or money those two items cost, but they are symptomatic of many non-education activities taking place. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
