The New NCLB's Demand for Highly Unqualified Teachers

From the Schools Matter blog:

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/02/new-nclbs-demand-for-highly-unqualified.html







As a teacher, I'm appalled and enraged at DEMOCRATS' embracing of right-wing anti-education, and anti-teacher, agendas.

It's like a bad dream.

:(

time to get back to education and forget profits . . . (easier to say than to do, unfortunately)

Why the "business" model, and/or "factory" model, doesn't work.

where every child is above average.

I'm glad that I am not involved in schools today in any direct way.

You know, the money is going to go to the schools that play the system and aren't afraid to cheat a little bit.

Arne Duncan must go! And get rid of Michelle Rhee, too.

I have an eight-year old daughter who is in 3rd grade. She has always done well in school, but
she does not have natural talent in math. She's been going through a rough patch this year, due
to a traumatic incident--and it has really affected her concentration. She gets stressed out
during math--and she tunes out. She is capable, has a great memory and is reading well above
her grade level. However, she is not doing as well in math. Previous report cards indicate
that she does average in math.

She is getting extra math tutoring, is in therapy and I enrolled her in a "confidence-boosting"
program, through her school, that she attends with five other kids once a week.

A few months ago, I felt extreme pressure by the teacher to put my child in special education. I
was mystified by this, but I kept an open mind. I consulted education experts, my daughter's therapist
and others--who were mystified as well. My daughter wasn't disabled--math just isn't her strong suit
and the strong emotions she's experiencing are temporarily affecting her scores. She's also the youngest
child in the class and has always been a bit immature--a late bloomer.

I explained all of this to the teacher. She kept insisting that we sign papers to have her tested.
Turns out, a lot of pressure was coming down from the principal. He wanted my daughter categorized
as a special education student--and he called a meeting with me and insisted that I sign now.

I politely refused. This did not fit for me. I read a great deal about math disabilities--and she lacked
most of the hallmarks--such as poor memory and poor reading performance. I advocated for my daughter,
without really knowing all of the answers. I just felt she needed some time. The school psychologist
said she agreed with me as well.

Turns out--the tests that determine school funding--were happening in January. I believe, though
the principal will never admit--that they wanted her classified as special ed before the tests. That
way, if she didn't perform well--they could say she was special ed--and excuse away those scores.

Two weeks ago--I got a call from my daughter's teacher. She apologized for everything that happened. She
said my daughter is improving, and her last two math test scores were around 80 percent. The teachers said
I was right to hold out like that and she said, "You said all along that she was a late bloomer and that
she would improve. You told me all along."

I am not a professional educator. I'm just a mom, but I knew something was "off". I didn't know about
NCLB and the test scores. The politics of all of this were unknown to me. But I sure learned. I listened
to my intuition, and stood my ground. So glad I did.

I wonder how many other parents have acquiesced because seemingly well-intentioned principals and teachers
were giving "professional advice"? Most parents don't understand how these test scores can dictate decisions--that
may not always be in the best interest of their kids. We rely on and trust principals and teachers to make
HONEST decisions--based on what is best for our kids. However, these test scores and funding issues, appear
to be affecting those decisions.

Very disconcerting, if you ask me.

I'm glad that your teacher called you.

The more top-down pressure there is to produce those scores, the more this kind of thing happens.

Which doesn't mean that we should be going after teachers' unions or teachers. We should be going after the "oligarchs" referred to that issue unhealthy mandates and advocate for destructive policies.

And high-stakes testing is one of those unhealthy mandates. :(

You'd be shocked if I shared half of what I've heard from districts and admins desperate to keep the school-closing wolves from the door.

And none of it is because we don't care about students, or about learning.

I'd like to add that my daughter's teacher was doing her best. It is obvious to me
now, that she was being forced to present the special-ed option to us. When she
could not get us to sign, the principal took over. It's obvious that the teacher
was not the driver here. She was just listening to her boss.

That really puts teachers in a precarious position. They're mandated by principals,
and those principals are pressured by their bosses--to produce higher test scores.

It's the system--not the teachers--who are at fault. However, the longer this insanity
continues--we will lose the amazing teachers and they will be replaced by educators
who will go along with this nonsense and not question it. Same goes for principals.
When our children are seen as nothing but "scores" it really dehumanizes them and
their education. It's numbing.

I also want to add that I have absolutely LOVED every single teacher both of my children
have had. Every one of them has been amazing. They are dealing with impossible, stressful
circumstances--and they all managed to help my children learn and grow personally.

I can't imagine the pressure teachers are under now. During this transition in education--it
must be particularly difficult for the good, amazing teachers who know that these changes
are horrible for kids.

The internal stress, trying to do my best for my students while complying with contradictory mandates, is considerable.

Add to that the budget and program cuts, the added responsibilities, the over-crowding and understaffing, and the only stress reliever in sight is the smile on a student's face; and that keeps me coming back.

look to frame a complex problem in it's most simplistic terms and solve it based on these premises, while it the same time insuring that profits for education related industries are as high as possible.

I'd love to see authentic, positive, liberal education reform. :(

I was looking around at the state of education four years ago and was appalled at what was happening and what I saw coming down the pike. I decided that I should do as much good as I could, and decided to go back to school for to get my teaching degree. The school I went to, a great small liberal arts school, has a great education program.

When I graduate this spring I will have three degrees, one in middle school education, one in elementary education and one in history. I'm looking to get into middle school social studies because I am seeing social studies being sacrificed on the altar of NCLB and testing. Kids simply aren't being taught social studies in the elementary grades because virtually all of class time is taken up with math, reading, writing and a bit of science all to meet the yearly testing requirements.

I figure I'll catch these kids coming out of elementary grades and make up for that deficit.

I live in Missouri and this Race to the Trough (love that) hasn't taken hold yet, but the state has put in its application. Who knows, I might become a dinosaur, a teacher who actually knows the subject he is teaching.

Get rid of student teaching requirements? What insanity, if anything there should be more hands on opportunities for pre-service teachers. In my program we had to be in the classroom each year we were in the collage, culminating in a semester of student teaching. You learn for too much about the realities of teaching in student teaching to simply do away with it. Throwing these so called "teachers" into the classroom cold is just asking for disaster.

But hey, you can pay these teachers less, which is part of what this whole program is about.

in KEEPING new teachers; so many don't last the first five years.

I'd like to see "student teaching" be a paid, with benefits, 2-year term.

education. Four foreign languages and expertise in English grammar and literature. Ability to perform two musical instruments and read music. Enhanced study in art history, music history, and theater history, and European/American history.

And now anyone who isn't acephalous can be a teacher.

Shoot me. Shoot me now.

until it's no longer a profession. :(