Kimberly Melton
"National education news: cheating teachers, failing schools and the future of Head Start"
The Oregonian
March 11, 2011
URL: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/03/education_news_around_the_nati_1.html
Summary: It is said in this article that in order to help students get higher scores, teachers from some schools cheating on students' tests by whispering answers to them. It is said by president Obama that 3/4 of the nation's public schools could be labeled "failing" under the No Child Left Behind Act. The Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that the law needs to be fixed immediately. Republicans are seeking to reduce funding for this program.
Intended audience: Teachers, educators
Key points: 1. Testing is a hot topic among education advocates, teachers, students and parents.
2. "The law has created dozens of ways for schools to fail," Duncan said. "And very few ways to help them succeed."
Relevance: Will the No Child Left Behind Act be fixed? How will it be fixed? It did cause some negative influence in education system. Let's wait to see how it will be changed or improved.
My feeling is that performance needs to be measured in some fashion but the amount of time that is cut out of the schedule to complete all the testing seems a bit much.
ReplyDeleteIf the "solution" becomes just lowering standards or not measuring achievement somehow I think that is a mistake too.
Perhaps students should take an SAT type test once a year during the summer and remove it from the school year. It is also problematic to focus primarily on student test results to make all kinds of decisions. The road ahead will be challenging, especially if the goal is improving our education system in a constructive way.