April 18, 2006
No Child Left Behind - Unless Educators Cheat on Tests
Do educators care more about teaching or in making it easy on themselves? Check this. The No Child Left Behind Act attempts to make sure that children of all races get a good education by monitoring their academic progress. Yet, school systems are cheating by changing the grades on their report cards by not counting the very students that the No Child Left Behind Act is trying to help.
States Omitting Minorities' Test Scores
An Associated Press computer analysis has found....nearly 2 million children whose scores aren't counted when it comes to meeting the law's requirement that schools track how students of different races perform on standardized tests. ...And minorities — who historically haven't fared as well as whites in testing — make up the vast majority of students whose scores are excluded.Schools receiving federal poverty aid also must demonstrate annually that students in all racial categories are progressing or risk penalties that include extending the school year, changing curriculum or firing administrators and teachers.
To the lazy left, having a protected easy career is the purpose of public schools. It is so important that they cheat on their own tests and fight accountability. There is an all out effort by teachers unions and liberal school boards to fight the purposes of the NCLB Act. They don't want a system that proves what poor jobs they are doing and that might make them work or leave. Who do their efforts help? Bad teachers. Who do their efforts hurt? Students with greater needs.
So, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to see what is going on in the school system of your own child? Are you going to contact editors, school boards, and Congressmen: or, will you sit back and expect others to do it? The left is waging an all-out war against accountability and deflecting expectations by parents and conservatives. It's time to call their hand and expose them. "No-count" teachers should be gone and "no-count" school systems need changes. Students and taxpayers deserve better.
We can start by counting everyone...or, to paraphrase the left on another issue, every student counts, so count every student.
Posted by Woody M. at April 18, 2006 11:00 PM | TrackBackMake's sense to me.
It is past time that we have school choice vouchers.
School choice vouchers will result in better education. Even public schools will get better if they must compete with private and parochial schools.
Posted by Ben USN (Ret) at April 19, 2006 01:20 AM
It's a nice goal, but the realities of the situation are that the NEA is in control, so you won't see any accountability. They have been doing everything imaginable to thwart school vouchers, merit pay for teachers, and teaching of the three "R's". The NCLB act is but a thorn in their side that they are striving to get rid of, and so far they seem to have succeeded nicely with their present student "counting" processes. ... and if you should find a way to stop the bogus student counting process, they'll only find another way to get around it. Good Luck!
Posted by Vulgorilla at April 19, 2006 06:17 AM
Personally, I think that's a good idea, but I doubt whether it will be brought to life or not... I mean, really brought.
Posted by Detox at April 19, 2006 07:21 AM
Let's not lose sight of the ball. As for this one vouchers are a three inch rope in a two foot hole. You can't take tax money and give it to private players.
http://gmroper.mu.nu/archives/169558.php#comments
Posted by Mark A. York at April 19, 2006 01:53 PM
They're not giving the money to private players. They're distributing it to parents with kids who then determine which schools are the best for their kids. Private, non-profit schools out-perform public schools, so the teachers' unions fight vouchers. Just one more case of the left saying that they know what is best for people and not letting parents have the right to do what is right for their kids.
I hadn't even looked back at that old thread on "global fear mongering" that you linked. Regarding Real Climate and professed scientists, I'm not so sure why it was easy for them to praise cartoonists as global warming supporters but to ignore or criticize an actual climate scientist who disagreed with them. It's like a mutual admiration society, where only friends who agree with your "wisdom and importance" are allowed to join.
Back to education, just think how much you missed in life because your parents didn't have vouchers to send you to decent schools.
Posted by Woody at April 19, 2006 03:44 PM
In today's WaPo appeared another article about cheating, this time on the part of the principal.
Posted by Always On Watch at April 19, 2006 04:28 PM
Woody in Maine we have decent schools. Then and now unlike Georgia so I missed nothing. To reacap we give people money to pay for private schools? Why should we give them money? Sounds like welfare to me. Do they have pink Cadillacs and go straight from the food stamp office?
"ignore or criticize an actual climate scientist who disagreed with them"
They haven't ignored anybody ( he was hapens to be a weatherman and you know what they say about them) but those with bad science have a hard time peddling it to real scientists.
Posted by Mark A. York at April 19, 2006 05:28 PM
Here's your challenge for the next time you fall all over some wingnut denier on some thinktank's payroll. They all are by the way. This is proven.
Make an argument without relying on these fallacies. I bet you can't without having a brain freeze.
Posted by Mark A. York at April 19, 2006 05:37 PM
Mark York, unlike those on the left, I consider that tax money belongs to those who earn it--not the government. If the citizens get it back because the government can't do its job, then it's not welfare. When the government fails in education, then it makes sense to hire private schools to pick up the slack.
Regarding government expenditures to private enterprises...are you opposed to NASA using PRIVATE businesses to help put rockets into space? If we're going to stop spending tax money with private businesses, let's start with those studying global warming. It would make both of us happy--you, because no business will profit, and me, because we won't pour money down a rathole.
Posted by Woody at April 19, 2006 06:50 PM
I didn't detect an argument in that. It seems to me there was a bit of a problem with one of NASA's "private" contractors a few years back. Morton-Thiokol I believe it was. Apparently o-rings weren't their thing? Oops. So yes I'm very suspect of contract help. Kind of like Haliburton and their overcharging for incompetence. Maybe Neil Bush's software will bail out the school system. I mean, Mom liked it! You're a sad joke pal. Sad sad sad.
Posted by Mark A. York at April 19, 2006 09:12 PM
The most successful students in my classroom are the ones whose parents are involved with their education. Those students whose parents make sure they study, do their homework and meet with me to discuss behavior, grades, etc. I have a student in my grade level right now who was at a private school. His grades are the same at our campus as they were at the private campus. I’ve met his mom once, the day she enrolled him. I’ve called her several times because her son doesn’t do his homework. His performance hasn’t improved, despite re-teaching, tutoring and working with me individually during class.
Now…don’t jump down my throat, thinking that I’m totally blaming parents for poor grades and poor performance. The fact of the matter is that it takes HOME and SCHOOL to create a successful student. End of story. If the parent is involved, race has very little to do with the success of the student. For the past 4 years, my homeroom has been 100% Hispanic. My first year of teaching was 90% Hispanic. My success rates (as far as state testing go) have been in the 88%-100% passing rates.
I don’t think it’s always about race…sometimes it’s more about being dedicated to education. Dedication on the part of the student, parent and teacher.
Just something to think about.
Posted by Jennifer at April 19, 2006 09:51 PM
Mark York, the engineers at Morton-Thiokol warned NASA that the o-rings could not be guranteed at low temperatures, and one engineer even went on his own time and money to meet with NASA about that. It was the governnment side that failed when the agency ignored the advice and decided to go ahead with the launch resullting in the Challenger explosion.
On the foam breaking off and hitting another Shuttle's wing and causing it to burn on re-entry was a NASA (government) problem by knowing of the problem and taking the risk anyway, because they did not investigate it properly.
Private contractors have a lot of parts and systems that they have to design for our launches. I would say that it is a tribute to them that our space program has been as successful as it is.
Maybe they didn't teach you that in your schools.
=========
Jennifer, you're an example of a teacher who wants our education system to succeed, while others are happy sabotaging it to avoid accountability.
I do agree that parents need to be involved. Government cannot, and should not, do everything. It's unfortunate that some parents buy in to a belief that everything is the government's responsibility and that the parents don't have to do anything to help their kids to learn. Maybe liberals in their government schools convinced them of that when the parents were in school.
Posted by Woody at April 20, 2006 10:42 AM
If that's the case maybe reporting something to Republican leadership just doesn't work? Challenger was Reagan, and the last one was Bush. It depends on who runs the agency and gets to decide. Is it a line engineer for NASA? No it's a political appointee. I work for the feds. I'm aware of who's in charge and when.
Posted by Mark A. York at April 21, 2006 05:57 PM
Mark, your discussion is off topic, but I'll respond by saying that it is absolutely rediculous to say that specific, Republican only, Presidents are guilty decades later for engineering design and decisions in a space program that began in the 1970's. If you believe that, then please tell me who was in office when the government hired you, so that you can praise them and I can attack that decision.
Posted by Woody at April 21, 2006 09:31 PM
