Sunday Opinions: Getting back to real learning

From Dr. Alis Headlam of Rutland, director Tutoring That Makes Sense:

Last week a news story appeared in the Rutland Herald and Times Argus to which everyone interested in the education of children should give attention. Current reports indicate that, according to the federal No Child Left Behind law, up to 70 percent of Vermont schools, or 216 out of about 300, are considered failing.

“The state believes those numbers are artificial, because they are based on standardized tests only, and students and schools never had time to catch up before the bar (expectations of increased standards) was raised again in accordance with NCLB,” the reporter wrote. If that were the only way we looked at schools, we would be in dire straits as a state. Fortunately, we are smart enough to know that these figures do not represent reality.

Since 2001 when No Child Left Behind was signed into law, it was obvious to many educators that this bill would not hold water over time and that eventually 100 percent of schools in the nation would be deemed to be failing. Defining success based on standardized tests is not a good idea and never has been. Parents, students and teachers know that what happens on a paper-and-pencil test on any given day cannot replicate the hard work that is done on a daily basis. At best it can give a snapshot of learning. At worst is misinterprets learning.

Read the full opinion here >>>

Sunday Opinions: Mathis on why the NCLB waiver is really just a bait-and-switch

From William J. Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center and a former Vermont school superintendent. His is presently a member of the state Board of Education. The views expressed are his own.

The federal Department of Education’s waiver provisions for the No Child Left Behind law were announced by the president with the catch-phrase “flexibility” prominently displayed.

This appearance of federal magnanimity was driven by the recent discovery by the federal government that, eventually, every school will fail. Of course, this has been a well-known fact for years. Thus, “waiving” the requirement that all students be proficient by 2014 is a bit like waiving the prohibition on getting wet after the tsunami has hit the beach.

The “flexibility” word is used as the lead in 10 straight paragraphs of the waiver provisions. Unfortunately, this is an exercise in Orwellian Newspeak. For those thinking the waivers offer new freedom and flexibility, they need only review the federal 20-page list of questions and conditions set forth in the review guidance. States and locals are free to be flexible as long as they adopt a national curriculum for all students, apply one of two sets of common national assessments in grades 3-8 plus high schools, adopt a set of supports/sanctions for the lowest scoring 15 percent of schools in each state, embrace at least three student performance levels, and apply growth models to evaluate teachers and principals by standardized test scores.

Read the full commentary here >>>