Thoughts on NCLB and Politics in Education

I have read a great deal of information regarding NCLB, so I did not read this article without having prior feelings. For some reason, when I think about NCLB, I start to feel angry. It's not that I think NCLB is a completely poor idea, however, I feel that there are a lot of problems with it. First, I feel that measuring any skill with a standardized test, and only a standardized test, is useless. I do not feel that these tests tell the government much. Sure, schools need to be held accountable, and I am sure that this way is the most efficient, but I hardly see how it is accurate. Also, the amount of money that is poured into testing could be used in SO many other, more beneficial ways. It's costly to give these tests and instead of using this money to determine which schools are doing poorly, why couldn't this money be put toward enhancing all schools around the nation?

Also, I find it a bit scary that the federal government can withhold funds if a school, like the one in Utah, decides not to cooperate. While I do understand why they would withhold funds, I feel as if the rules should be more flexible. Furthermore, I think it's completely ridiculous that the government is implementing a program that they are unable to fully fund in the first place. If the government has high expectations and wants our students to succeed, shouldn't they be able to pay to implement their program to the fullest degree. I think it's unfair to expect certain things from schools and not provide the resources necessary in order for the improvements to actually occur.

In addition, I agree that students are not necessarily improving on these tests, but instead, I believe that a lot of this improvement comes from "tweaking" the tests and the scores. Moreover, I also feel that a lot of class time is specifically geared towards these tests in the hopes that students will have practiced their way to achievement, which again, is not beneficial. Why test students on things that they will never be able to use in the real world or relate to their real world experiences. It just all seems like a huge waste of time.

Also, the idea that children only have a three year window to take tests in their native language, but only ten states test children in their native language is contradictory to say the least. Moreover, I think it's nearly impossible to account for every language and be able to provide a test in every language. Furthermore, cultures vary across the globe, so even if an English test is translated, it still has American cultural bias in the questions, and is still unfair.

With all of this being said, I think it is important for schools to be held accountable. I think the way the government is measuring accountability is flawed and with all of the research that is going on, I would think they could find an alternative method. I do not think that the tests need to be eliminated altogether. I do think there need to be other options and more flexibility and more funding.

With regard to reading, I feel that resources and funding to assist struggling readers and challenge confident readers is necessary. I feel that reading can be tested but is inaccurate if everyone gets the same test. Furthermore, I think that any success in reading is valuable and while some children may not score particularly high on a standardized test, they may still have a achieved a great deal and that should be celebrated as well. I don't think the same expectations should be placed on everyone. I think that NCLB is a great model in theory but needs a lot of improvements in order to be successful.