Really? Former No Child Left Behind champion now criticizes sweeping education law
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It’s a little late to join the chorus, but Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary in the Department of Education under President George W. Bush, is now criticizing the No Child Left Behind Act.
In a story that aired this morning on NPR, Ravitch said NCLB has put education in America “on the wrong track.” Her biggest concern? Standardized testing – the cornerstone, centerpiece, the crux of NCLB. Under the bi-partisan law adopted way back in 2001, if students don’t make incremental progress in their scores on standardized tests (known as adequately yearly progress) then schools are punished.
Read more of what Ravitch had to say here. For probably more detailed information than you ever wanted about NCLB, read here.
NCLB always puzzled me, even way back in 2002. That year I worked as the full-time education reporter at the Sun (I am freelance now) and the paper was kind enough to send me to a press education summit about NCLB down at the University of Southern California. We actually had cocktails and dinner one night with Rod Paige, the education secretary at the time. Looking back it all seems a little surreal that I had the chance to meet the education secretary who would set NCLB in motion. Anyway, during cocktails we all gathered around Paige trying to get in a question or two. I can’t remember who asked (I’d like to think it was me but I truly can’t remember) Paige whether NCLB would eventually implode on itself. Because eventually all schools would be on a list of not making adequately yearly progress. Let’s face it, schools aren’t making little widgets that will come out perfectly if teachers just get their teaching perfect. Schools are working with humans – as flawed and complicated as any creature on this planet. I recall Paige’s response being appropriately vague and something about setting the bar high. Looking back, how was he going to respond to a question like that anyway, especially as NCLB was just getting underway?
But since that time, we have watched schools slowly slide in adequately year progress and slip onto the “improvement” list. Schools that receive Title I federal education funding face sanctions; those that don’t receive Title I funds aren’t affected. Title I, given to schools where a lot of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, is one of the few “hammers” the feds can use to enforce NCLB.
Despite my criticism of Ravitch realizing too little too late, I do find what she says about the focus of NCLB intriguing. From the NPR story:
“The basic strategy is measuring and punishing,” Ravitch says of No Child Left Behind. “And it turns out as a result of putting so much emphasis on the test scores, there’s a lot of cheating going on, there’s a lot of gaming the system. Instead of raising standards it’s actually lowered standards because many states have ‘dumbed down’ their tests or changed the scoring of their tests to say that more kids are passing than actually are.
Some states contend that 80 to 90 percent of their children are proficient readers and have math proficiency as well, Ravitch notes. But in the same states, only 25 to 30 of the children test at a proficient level on national tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress.”
Once again, I think it’s apparent that there is no magic bullet for the massive public education system in America.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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