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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThird Way says NCLB testing must go on. Calls us "anti-testing-and-accountability Democrats"
That Jon Cowan....he just has to use labels. He also uses the term "test-phobia", a little trite.
It is not surprising this think tank has entered the fray to lecture those of us who want an end such overtesting and practice testing which keeps teachers from teaching and students from learning. It's their job to stand up for corporate needs, and their greatest need right now is to take over public schools.
No Child Left Behind test requirements deserve support from both parties
He doesn't seem to even be aware that the testing IS the policy of Obama and his education secretary Arne Duncan. The picture he is painting is misleading by its omission of the other side of the story.
It's interesting that Republicans are working to control the amount of testing and Democratic strategists are calling for the "status quo".
The stance of anti-testing-and-accountability Democrats is even more puzzling. After decades of stagnant school test scores and yawning achievement gaps, No Child Left Behind spurred tremendous academic gains, especially among low-income and minority kids. Just a few of the many examples: According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the largest ongoing nationwide assessment, 57 percent of low-income students were below basic level in fourth-grade math the year before No Child Left Behind was enacted. Today that rate is 27 percent. For African-American students, the rate went to 34 percent from 65 percent. For Latinos, it went to 27 percent from 59 percent. Today, the average 9-year-old African-American student scores at the math level an African-American 13-year-old did in 1973. The same is true for Latino students. Students with disabilities are making educational progress as well and for the first time, those gains are being tracked systematically.
How can Democrats, who built two winning presidential coalitions by arguing they are the only ones who will stand up for African Americans and Latinos, be willing to throw out the policies that incited such progress?
Of course there are things not to like about No Child Left Behind, and pieces of it could use tweaks and improvement. And some thoughtful lawmakers are already suggesting ways to directly address those concerns, like asking states and districts to review the tests their students are taking and toss out those that are duplicative or low quality. But after watching American students fall behind our global competitors, we now see an upward trajectory. The average 9-year-old American students scores are going up in reading seven times faster than they ever did in the 30 years before No Child Left Behind. In math, the scores are going up five times faster.
Yet, the gravitational pull of anti-testing-and-accountability forces is so strong that its causing many in Congress to become repeal-and-replacers, even if that means jettisoning deep values cherished by their own party. This is the legislative equivalent of repealing the entire Affordable Care Act because of opposition to its medical-device tax.
We cannot let test phobia undercut the significant progress the United States has made toward giving all children an education that prepares them to succeed.
They keep throwing out statistics with little background.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)for this and all their other ideas too.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Fuck the Turd Way with an iron stick.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)The propaganda machine is a fixture of our new corrupt corporate state.
They have largely murdered journalism and replaced it with something much more sinister.
And in the same authoritarian vein, education now becomes "training."
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Yes, those really are the plans. Not learning....you are so right...training.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)I found this post interesting, too: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6256880
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Kind of like anti-war fringe and status quo supporters.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Rick Scott would be a good steward of educational dollars? Scott Walker?
Are you actually supporting repeal of NCLB and allowing John Boehner's House to rewrite the current educational regime?
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)But there must be an end to the overtesting.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)advocating for repeal of NCLB, and having Boehner's Congress create a new regime.
Are you supporting repeal? It's a yes or no question.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Are you aware of the millions he is NOT sending to public schools? Are you aware of the amounts the ed dept gives to charter schools?
It's a political game to both parties, and the students are being harmed.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)a yes or no question.
Are you truly advocating repeal and having Boehner's Congress replace NCLB?
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Thanks.