A Change to No Child Left Behind

The Obama Administration is planning a change in the No Child Left Behind law. There has been a lot of grumbling about the proposed changes and what they might look like for a few months now. First the administration announced the initiative "Race to the Top" which was their way of encouraging schools to make changes, including dismissing ineffective teachers. I believe that many states have applied for the program, but there were some that didn't qualify. The main difference is less emphasis on standardized test scores. Under the current law, every school would have been on the failing list because by 2014, each school had to have 100% of its students meeting goal on the state standardized test. This was impossible and if we reached 2014 with the current law intact, it would have been the tipping point. For now, the administration wants to make significant changes, including getting rid of the goal for 2014. Now there is a different goal: All students are college ready or career ready by 2020. These are admirable goals, but I feel that NCLB needs to have a significant parental component. There are parents that do not understand nor accept their responsibility in their child's education. It is frustrating when they think that the school can do it all. In order for there to be true education reform, parents have to play a part.

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Making the Rounds

(Disclaimer - I know I failed on my mission of a new post every Tuesday, but I did start writing this post on Tuesday. It's taken me this long to finish it.)

First day back after a nice holiday. For some reason, I feel that MLK day has been downplayed. I don't think it's as big a deal now as it was when I was a kid. That could be because I grew up in the South, but it could be because of the multicultural society that we live in today. Maybe people feel as if they don't necessarily have to stress it anymore. I'm not even sure if it was mentioned in my building last week. There's a chance that kindergarten and maybe first grade talked about it, but they may have been the only one's to discuss it. My principal made a point of reminding the kids before they left on Friday to reflect on why they had Monday off.

Maybe that's where we are in 2010. We have a Black (Biracial) president, there are more opportunities for African-Americans, albeit a limited few have access to those opportunities, and there are few incidents of blatant racism. Maybe we've moved beyond addressing MLK in school. I remember asking an African-American teacher in my building what she was doing for African-American History Month. She told me that she wasn't doing anything special because she incorporated the information throughout the year.

Today, I went to two different schools to observe students that I am evaluating. These are both alternative schools, specializing in behavioral and emotionally-challenged students. I was impressed by the atmosphere in each building. On paper, these schools seem like they would be awful places to attend. In actuality, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Both schools--one an elementary school, the other a high school--seem very therapeutic. Each had a very welcoming main office, which is key to establishing a warm environment because it puts one at ease. And I met both principals as I explained that I was there to observe students.

In the elementary school I observed a student that seemed pretty well-behaved. I know that I was only getting a snapshot, but it was promising. It reminded me that his apparent success is the reason why we refer some students to these types of schools. Obviously, this was an appropriate placement for him. While I was observing him, I saw a former student of mine. It was bit depressing to see that he hadn't changed much. He was still rail-thin, his head riddled with bald patches from ripping out his hair during anxiety attacks. He was very meek and looked like he would fold into himself it it was possible. I had hoped that this school would have produced results for him, but it looks like he is pretty much the same. Unfortunately a lot of his psychological inertia stems from the fact that his parents are mentally ill with bouts of depression, paranoia, and anxiety. I'm supposed to reevaluate him before the end of the year, so this will give me more information on how he is really doing. I don't know if he recognized me. Hopefully he just didn't see me. Of all the kids that I saw in this school, he was the one that stuck out to me as being a child that seemed in critical need.

BBC

In the News

A couple of news stories that caught my attention.

Obama named his nominee for Secretary of Education.

I don't have an opinion at this point. Until recently the Secretary of Education job was a thankless job that didn't seem to have a real impact on education. If you think about it, was it the Secretary of Education that played a major role in Brown v. Board of Ed? IDEA? It seems to me that until No Child Left Behind (NCLB) no one really knew what the Education Secretary actually did. Now the cabinet position is more important than ever. We'll have to see what Arne Duncan will do in his position.

A district in Maryland is getting rid of the "Gifted" label.

All I have to say is unless you have a school for the gifted, the percentage of your student body that is gifted should reflect society, about 2%. That's it. A school with 36% gifted students is either too lenient in their criteria or there's something in the water. I need to move to Montgomery County if there's a good chance of creating a gifted child just by living there. Regardless, people want their children to be in gifted programs, but not all are created equal. I would look to see what kind of enrichment these programs had to offer. Is it something I could replicate on my own? Like special education, sometimes the label doesn't matter, the level of service does.

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The Obama Effect

I wore my Obama t-shirt to school today. I was waiting until Dress Down Friday so that I wouldn't feel underdressed. My school has been buzzing about the election ever since Wednesday morning. When I arrived Wednesday, most of the children were holding newspapers, flipping through them and discussing the election. Kindergartners to sixth graders were talking about a presidential election. When was the last time that happened? It was nice to finally see validation of this multicultural society that we always talk about. We finally elected a leader that resembles the diversity that makes this country special. My school's population is about 75% Black and Latino. These students witnessed something that was unthinkable a couple of years ago, and now they will remember this for the rest of their lives. This is something they will tell their children about. Our students felt included in the moment because my school held a mock election, in which Obama won by a landslide.

Everything has felt better during the last few days. Everyone seems happier, there are more positive thoughts and fewer complaints. It's been nice. I wonder how it will affect the students in the long run. I wonder how many will change their outlook on life. It would seem that anyone could believe that now anything is possible. I guess we'll have to see.

BBC

The Democratic Dilemma

So in this surreal moment in life when the Democratic candidate for President will either be a woman or a black man, I have to seriously think about who I'm supporting. While I was taught in school that it's better for school psychologists to be politically neutral (you don't want to piss people off), I do have some political leanings. I am a registered Democrat and I will support the person that comes out of this alive. Despite my commitment, I do have to think about who is ultimately the stronger candidate. While they differ on some issues, the issue that I have to look at professionally was education. Where does Obama stand on education? What does Clinton have to say about education?

I checked out their websites to see what each candidate has to say. For what it's worth I saw a previous critique of the layout of the Clinton and Obama websites, and I think the critiques are valid. Clinton's website, check it out here, is dense with information, maybe too dense. I saw the text I thought "ugh." I guess I've worked with too many ADHD kids. There were a lot of good points, but I thought it should have been bulleted more. That first paragraph hits you with a thud. Obama's website, check it out here, has headers and has a nice flow. I'm just not sure about what he is actually saying. He presents more ideas and promises than Clinton and it begs the question: How much of this is actually feasible?

Education has been the cornerstone of the American Dream. Everyone is guaranteed an education here. If you get an education, you'll get a job. If you get a job, you can be a productive member of society. That's the sales pitch that America's been giving since the 18th century. So what are the promises that the Democratic presidential candidates are making? Clinton's promises seem to be more focused and there are fewer of them. There seems to be a realistic tone to what she is saying. She also mentions meeting the funding requirements of IDEA and providing support for children with special needs. Obama's promises are idealistic and are full of hope; you wouldn't expect anything less from him at this point. He proposes a "Zero to Five" plan that will focus on kids from birth to preschool. He also mentions making math and science a national priority. You read his ideas and they give you hope. I just wonder how much of this could he actually accomplish.

I have made a decision, but in the end I'll support whoever wins the ticket. I hope that NCLB will be amended, at least funded, so that we can change the education system in this country for the better.

BBC