Around The Blogosphere: No Child Left Behind General by Joel Wagner - March 9, 2008July 2, 20105 Everyone’s talking about it. It seems that everyone has been talking about it for nearly seven years now. So I thought it would be kind of interesting to see what various bloggers are saying about the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 (NCLB). My personal opinion is that the law has good intentions, but they go about it entirely the wrong way. My preference would be for children to be educated by their own families rather than the state, but California courts seem interested in doing their part to see that it doesn’t happen. Besides, too many homes have two incomes to make it reasonable for everyone (even if one income merely is there to support child care, an extra car, and lavish living). Oops, sorry about that. That’s all of the political commentary I have for now. I’ll start with some interesting reading. Here’s an interesting and very short article from February about the larger social implications of the legislation. No Child Left Behind Is Leaving Designers Behind. I found a couple of different takes on this NY Times article (NCBLA says one thing, Educating Alice says another) Here are some editorial cartoons. And of course, there is the beloved No Dentist Left Behind (also, the Football analogy and the basketball version) Obviously, this is a topic of great interest still. In fact, here is a list of all of the articles (according to Google Blog Search) written in the last 24 hours that mentioned NCLB. It’s crazy. A list of Bush and co. accomplishments, To help start the Bush Library Republicans accused of buying votes for their ward convention America at Odds: Fiscal Federalism and Drinking Age This is a quote from my last blog entry: “Please tell me why they … Educating for Humanity Ahhhh SETC… Open Question: Did you have any frickin’ idea that…..? Virginia may opt out of failed No Child Left Behind About government SCAN Reports: “We Don’t Need Saving!” Education’s Diseased Culture; the American Toady Farm Art Makes All Things Better: Tolerance.org Finnish Finishing Schools So. . . who should be in charge of a child’s education?] 03/08/08 Obama on Education, NCLB Education’s Diseased Culture; the American Toady Farm A Public School Mantra for All Students Zenos, two weeks on Educational Change Hillary and the Invisible Women DFL SD 62 convention current obsessions EDUCATING FOR HUMANITY The Library The big “discussion” (read as borderline fistfights between … College Student Disabilities: Impact of “No Child Left Behind” No Child left behind Re: Supermarket or Antidote? Now That The Primary Is Over, Strickland Should Concentrate On … Considering Barack Obama, part 3 to the governator Back in the US of A and stomping down some roots Crying “Monster!” Should Parents be Licensed? Campbell’s Law No Child Left Behind Washington Lawyers CCSD Teacher Coaches: Another Failed Idea Hillary won Texas! The Economy NCLB 2.0: The Fix Is In. Or Not. Liberal Fascism Stateswomen (Amy) Teaching Boys and Girls Separately Schools need pact oversight Asperger Hell Republicans Live in a Parallel Universe ARE YOU SERIOUS, MINISTER? Homeschooling and why it may not be as great as it sounds Edcuation and the Election movie: Lost in China Reading and Math Educators Tackle Education Challenges Does the Research Su See also What To Do When You Hate TeachingJoel WagnerJoel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.
I’m glad to see another public school teacher who recognizes the danger of what is going on in California. It is a serious blow to parental rights.
Why does the government insist on catching everyone up? Has it not occurred to them that those students are just slackers who never want, or even try, to do their homework? While the government is waiting for everyone else to catch up, everyone else falls behind. Isn’t that ironic? The students who need to be pushed, and actually want to excel in their school work, are, in fact, “dumbing down” because of the curriculum.
I definitely think this law was “meant for good” but is very flawed. I know it’s one of those things that sounds good on paper and to the untrained educator…but in reality it’s really not good. Susan
Audrey: I agree that there are students out there who simply don’t care. They are motivated, but not to work in the traditional education system. This is one more reason I am not a big proponent of our current educational system…