Trying a little something new. Something I’ve wanted to do for a
while. For the next few days, I will be posting the pieces I submitted
for my Writing Minor Portfolio. They are all from classes I took
Sophomore to Senior Year at Keene State College. Most of them are memoir
in nature, but a few are slightly different. These are pieces I love, but
know still need work. If you would like to know more of the stories
behind the pieces, let me know and I will be happy to share! Also, any and
all constructive feedback is always welcome – just because these were the final
versions to be submitted doesn’t mean that they are perfect.
Oh,
and also? These are mine. Do not steal them.
Thanks.
Generation
of Idiots:
Every
Child Left Behind
Written for Creative Non-Fiction, Sophomore Year.
“A teacher has two jobs; fill young minds with knowledge,
yes, but more important, give those minds a compass so that that knowledge
doesn't go to waste” (Mr. Holland’s Opus, 1996).
This country is raising a generation of
idiots. Rather than teaching children
how to think, schools are teaching them how to memorize. My first day of high school, way back in
1992, my social studies teacher, Mr. Bohi, taught us a very important lesson:
“What is thought is often more important than what is.” He taught us about perception, how we, as a
country, put values on things which have no intrinsic value. He made us think, give our opinions and stand
by them.
I know a woman who has been a Special
Education teacher for thirty years. In
her time, she has seen many changes to the education system, the worst of which
came after the turn of the millennium - No Child Left Behind. This program focuses so much on standardized
testing that the main focus of educators is to cram as much information into
young minds as possible. When she
suggested to her Principal a Native American parent should come in and give a
presentation, as it would be educational as well as entertaining, the principal
answered: “It’s not in the curriculum,
so we can’t do it.” This is a serious
problem facing many teachers today.
Since the federal government is not footing the bill for all this
Education Reform, it is up to the individual states. The result?
An increase in time, money and effort spent on curriculum for the
standardized tests, and nothing left over for enrichment or enlightenment.
So, what is No Child Left Behind? In an effort to find a clear-cut definition,
I turned to
www.ed.gov,
the official Education Department web site.
The most information I received was the Overview - the Four Pillars of
NCLB:
·
Stronger Accountability for
Results. “Under No Child Left Behind,
states are working to close the achievement gap and make sure all students,
including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency…. Schools
that do not make progress must provide supplemental services, such as free
tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions; and, if still not
making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the
way the school is run.” (www.ed.gov)
So, they check up on the schools to make
sure all students are passing the tests, and if they aren’t they have to offer
more assistance. Sounds good,
right? In theory, sure. Most schools should be offering these kinds
of programs, anyway. But, who’s footing
the bill? Is the federal government
going to pay for all these required programs?
I think you already know the answer to that one. So, if low-income school districts are
required to offer these services, where is the money coming from? Where the money always comes from in times of
budgetary crisis: the arts, class trips, vocational programs, etc. (Fletcher,
161).
·
More Freedom for States and
Communities: “Under No Child Left Behind, states and school districts
have unprecedented flexibility in how they use federal education funds. For example, it is possible for most school
districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they
receive under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational
Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free
Schools programs to any one of
these programs, or to their Title I Program, without separate approval.”
(www.ed.gov)
While this sounds pretty good, note how it is
possible for most schools - not all.
Which schools are included, and which aren’t? Also, do you really think that schools are
going to use their funds like this?
Sure, they might use them to increase teachers’ salaries, which they
can, but really, is giving that kind of freedom to individual schools such a
wise move? And what about those who
don’t have much funding to begin with?
·
Proven Education Methods: “No
Child Left Behind puts emphasis on determining which educational programs
and practices have been proven effective through rigorous scientific
research. Federal funding is targeted to
support these programs and teaching methods that work to improve student
learning and achievements.” (www.ed.gov)
Why does this sound familiar? Oh, right.
eHarmony.com uses the same thing in their advertising! Does the government really think selling NCLB
in the same manner as an over-priced singles web site is helping their cause?
·
More Choices for Parents: “In
schools that do not meet state standards for at least two consecutive years,
parents may transfer their children to a better-performing public school,
including a public charter school, within their district.” (www.ed.gov)
This is laughable to me. If the entire district is under-funded, who’s
to say that one school is better than another?
The scores may only be marginally higher, and there is still no
guarantee that your kid will benefit from this move. Also, according to Edward Fletcher in his
essay “No Curriculum Left Behind: The Effects of the No Child Left Behind
Legislation on Career and Technical Education”, “only 2% of students have taken
advantage of the option to transfer to another school” (160). I mean, let’s be serious - what kid is going
to want to change schools and leave all their friends just because the school
is failing, in the government’s eyes, to “educate” them?
The federal government sticking its nose
into education is nothing new. Since the
beginning of the United States of America,
it has played some kind of role. That
role has varied throughout the years, but it has always been there (Anderson,
6).
The national government has supported
education since the beginning of the republic, and there have always been
different ideological perspectives on the appropriateness of federal involvement
in general and with regard to specific programs. (Anderson,
6)
Teachers and
education majors alike are concerned over the amount of control the federal
government has over education. Recently,
I mentioned to several education majors here at Keene
State college that I was writing a
piece on No Child Left Behind and the education system here in the U.S.A.. Each time, it was met with the same reaction:
an eye roll, a groan, and “I hate No Child Left Behind! The education system sucks!” This is coming from students who have been
through the program. They are asking for
more; why not give it to them?
Indulge me while I look back to a better
time in education… Back in my day, as we old people say, education was truly
valued. I consider myself lucky to have
gone through the town of Hanover’s
school system, K-12. There were
resources galore at our fingertips. We
were required in fourth grade to take French, and were given the option that
same year to learn the violin. Many held
out until fifth grade, when you were allowed to take up a band instrument. We had choruses for third, fourth and fifth
graders, putting on various concerts throughout the year. In second grade, we had Colonial Days - a
time when we would study colonial life, and have two days to live it - we
farmed, made our own mugs, worked with the blacksmith, cooked, and attended
school, complete with a dunce cap and tardy sign. In third grade, we studied Japan,
and put on a Japanese Festival. All the
third grade students ran various booths: serving rice and teaching how to use
chopsticks, making hats, a tea ceremony, flower arrangements, and more. We learned Japanese songs and folktales.
My fourth grade teacher had the freedom to
teach us about Ancient Egypt, and read to us from The Hobbit. In fifth grade, we got to learn all about
Medieval Times, and put on the Medieval Festival - a two day event during which
we sang Medieval songs, put on skits and plays from the olden days, reenacted
battles, learned dances of the time, and jousted.
My high school offered a lot for people who
were struggling academically. I was
enrolled in one such program, The Dresden Program, but never really took
advantage of it. But it was there. Our theatre and music programs were excellent
- when you’re turning people away at the door for the spring musical, you know
you’re doing something special. There
was a lot of freedom, and a lot of educational options. It truly prepared us for the freedoms found
in college. We were taught to think,
encouraged to question, and learned more than what was in a text book. The lessons learned inside and out of the
classrooms have stuck with me more than a decade after graduating. We never asked to be taught just what we
needed for the test - we took it all in.
I feel sorry for today’s youth. It is becoming more evident that they are not
being challenged. In one of my classes,
we were told to visit a web site to supplement what we were learning in
class. One student asked “Is there
something specific we should be looking at for the test?” To which my professor answered “Just look
around it, it’s got a lot of stuff on there.”
Student: “But is there anything specific for the test?” Professor: “Just look around at it.” Me: facepalm. “Really?! What ever happened to learning for the sake
of learning? Damn kids today…”
More like “damn administrations today…” They are teaching for the sake of passing
tests. Kids are learning that it isn’t
useful or important to learn about the world around them unless it’s going to be
on a test. Is this really what we want
to be teaching them?
In an effort to save their own asses, school
administrations are now lowering their standards to make themselves look
good. In his article for the “New York
Times”, Sam Dillon reported
A new federal study shows that nearly a third
of the states lowered academic
proficiency standards in recent years, a step that helps schools stay ahead of
sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law. (Dillon)
This way,
their test scores read better, but this is unfair and confusing to parents
(Dillon). They think their kids are
learning more, but really, all the schools are doing is dumbing the lessons
down, “allowing a lower score on a state test to qualify as proficient”.
(Dillon)
In reality,
academic achievement has hit a lull.
When the National Assessment of Education Progress test was administered
in 2009, the results were surprising.
Student achievement was actually slowing down. Before No Child Left Behind, achievement was
growing at a pretty good clip. (“No Child Left Behind Act”).
I have pondered the idea of being a teacher
in the past. I wanted to be the cool
history teacher who reenacted battles, made the entire class sit on four desks
to show what is was like for slaves crossing the Atlantic,
and asked the opinions of students regarding the validity of their text
books. What once would have been
considered progressive is now antiquated and inappropriate. The standardized tests don’t care if you know
how it felt to be an African slave, so why bother teaching it at all?
No Child Left Behind sounds like a
good idea - it’s a catchy name, but it doesn’t deliver. If we want to overhaul the system,
standardized testing and redistribution of funds isn’t going to cut it. The average kid in public school has little
interest in learning for fun - they never have.
Programs like Colonial Days and Medieval Festivals are needed for just
that reason. Teaching the arts and vocational
studies are just as important as math and science. Not everyone is cut out for Harvard, or even Keene
State, why not give them a chance
to learn and excel as well? As Mr.
Holland so eloquently put it, “Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as
you want… Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or
write about” (Mr. Holland’s Opus).
You can force these kids to memorize all the facts in the world, but
sooner or later they aren’t going to have any opinions or thoughts of their
own.
Works
Cited
Anderson, Lee W. Congress and the Classroom: From the Cold
War to No Child
Left Behind. University Park,
Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania
State
University Press, 2007.
Dillon, Sam.
“Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools.” New York
Times 30 Oct. 2009: Education, n.p.
30educ.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1258940982-OvUSKlg+1jOSU1g7QKX6pQ>
Fletcher
Jr., Edward C. "No Curriculum Left Behind: The Effects of the No Child
Left Behind Legislation on Career and
Technical Education." Career & Technical Education Research
31.3 (2006): 157-174. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.
Mr. Holland’s Opus. Dir. Stephen
Herek. Perf. Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne
Headly,
Jay
Thomas, and Olympia Dukakis. Hollywood
Pictures, 1996.
Unknown.
“No Child Left Behind Act.” New
York Times 15 Oct. 2009:
n.p.
no_child_left_behind_act/index.html?emc=eta2>
U.S.
Department of Education. 01 July 2004.
