Public Schools: The big push toward Mediocrity?

[Amy Bennett]

Even people who advocate school accountability get a little uncomfortable about this, wouldnt you agree?

I agree wholeheartedly.

Because our funding is tied to the testing of standards (No Child Left Behind), we must do whatever we can to assure that the students meet or exceed those standards. The only way to break the funding through testing link is through the legislature.

[Amy Kloss]

Dee Martinez wrote:

I wont presume to speak for the person who started the thread, but "competition" may not have beenhow she really intended to describe the concept.
"Motivation" might have been a better one. If I get the same mark whether I get 95 out of 100 on a test, or 75 out of 100, why push myself for those extra 20 points? Im not necessarily in a race with other students but if theres no difference between "excellent" and "good enough", "good enough" is a lot easier to get to.

Thank you, Dee. I think my original point about "competition" was emphasized a little too much. I have always been involved in my children's education, and I feel their teachers are doing a fantastic job. I just wondered what other citizens and especially teachers think about this new grading system at the elementary level. I am concerned about Lakewood's educational system at all levels. We can't ignore the law of unintended consequences when we change something that has been established for so long.

[Tim Liston]

Grades are an impediment to real learning. Real learning comes from loving the subject matter, whether it be history, math, or whatever. Grades teach kids to study for the purpose of getting a good grade, not for the purpose of loving to learn. Reading about whether A thru F is better than E/M/P/I makes no sense to me, it's such hair-splitting.

All kids are better at some things and worse at some things and we all know that. Grades are for parents and not for kids. Parents need to learn to encourage their kids to strive at things they love, not for a grade, but because by striving to succeed at whatever they enjoy they learn how to strive and succeed.

The best thing we can do for our children is (1) get rid of homework so they can go outside and play, do some work around the house, pursue subjects of interest or whatever, and (2) get rid of grades so kids can really fall in love with learning.

Tonight my kid memorized the 18 different shapes of leaves. In alphabetic order. Acerose, cordate, cuneate.... Looks like she'll get an "A" but she'll probably hate botany forever.

[Danielle Masters]

I will say I am not happy with the new report cards, not because of the E,M,P,I. That part doesn't really bother me. I don't like the vagueness of the new card. I didn't get the feeling that the teachers liked it either, but I won't put words in their mouth. As for the box with check if your child is in an alternative program, not one of mine had a checked box. Two special ed one gifted, all alternative programs, but not checked. The teachers did a great job at the conference telling me how my kids were doing, but unlike the old card where I could look back at it several weeks later and see where my child need improvement, this one you can not. I am not happy with NCLB and the fact that good teachers have to teach to a test. Hopefully it will not me renewed and teachers can get back to teaching. I will one again reiterate that I don't like the format of the card. I would like more specific information on my child's weaknesses and strengths, I don't really care about a letter grade. So give me checks and minuses and I am happy. I just want to be able to assist my children where they need help. I talk to the teachers so I know that info, but not everyone has that opportunity and it's unfortunate that in the end they might not know how best to help their children. I'd like the district to go back and redesign the cards again. Keep the standards based grades, that's fine, but put back on the card the details of where each individual child is at, ie for kindergarten which letters and numbers they know, etc. Just my two cents. One last thing, no matter the card my kids are getting a great education and in the end that is all that matters.

[Justine Cooper]

Grades are an impediment to real learning. Real learning comes from loving the subject matter, whether it be history, math, or whatever. Grades teach kids to study for the purpose of getting a good grade, not for the purpose of loving to learn. Reading about whether A thru F is better than E/M/P/I makes no sense to me, it's such hair-splitting.

All kids are better at some things and worse at some things and we all know that. Grades are for parents and not for kids. Parents need to learn to encourage their kids to strive at things they love, not for a grade, but because by striving to succeed at whatever they enjoy they learn how to strive and succeed.

The best thing we can do for our children is (1) get rid of homework so they can go outside and play, do some work around the house, pursue subjects of interest or whatever, and (2) get rid of grades so kids can really fall in love with learning.

Tonight my kid memorized the 18 different shapes of leaves. In alphabetic order. Acerose, cordate, cuneate.... Looks like she'll get an "A" but she'll probably hate botany forever.

This is a really good post and I wonder what we each can do to push toward different legislation so that we can go back to focusing on loving to learn without the strict standards of NCLB. I am also relieved to see the posts stressing that competition for grades should not even be a factor. Children will naturally strive for their best when encouraged by their parents and the ultimate goal is of course for the intrinsic value of the feeling of accomplishment. Without that they won't succeed in life independently. And as Danielle pointed out, it is not uncommon to have one child in gifted and one with a learning disability, so if competition was pressed in the home, it would be devastating to the child with a disability. There have been studies done on birth order and it is far more common for the first child (absent a disability) to excel academically, but then it is also common for the next child to excel at something else, like sports for example because the natural inclination is to not want to compete with the older sibling. In cases where competition is pushed academically in a home, it actually pushes the one child to do worse so as not to compete and find something else to excel at. Students should not even know other students grades so that they aren't competing because as Diane pointed out, competing with yourself to do better is all that should count.

I don't love the new report cards but at the teacher's conference everything was spelled out in detail verbally and the teachers have always been open to communication for questions anytime. I find the teaching in the elementary schools excellent. I can see how much each child has learned just since September.

[Jennifer Frank]

As for the box with check if your child is in an alternative program, not one of mine had a checked box. Two special ed one gifted, all alternative programs, but not checked.

I'm sorry if I was not as clear as I should have been earlier. The alternative program box is only supposed to be checked if your child is completing a completely different program. For example, a student who is in special ed, but is able to complete the grade level curriculum with accommodations and modifications would not have the box checked. However, if they needed to be taught using a completely different curriculum then the box should be checked. I teach kids with disabilities so that is the area that I am most familiar with. We were told that during the in-service that the box was for special ed, ESL, and gifted as appropriate. I can't speak about the gifted program, as it is not located in my building. Perhaps I am wrong. I also understand the frustration with the information communicated on the report card. Hopefully, this will improve when teachers fill in the comments for the next three grading periods.

[Bill Call]

This is a really good post and I wonder what we each can do to push toward different legislation so that we can go back to focusing on loving to learn without the strict standards of NCLB.

The NCLB is simply a desperate attempt to measure the performance of students, teachers and administrators. Most of the opposition is from the bureaucracy and is based on the teachers and administrators fear of anything that measures performance and attempts to quantify results.

We test engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and large animal veterinarians but God forbid we should test a student.

[Dee Martinez]

We test engineers, doctors, lawyers accountants, real estate agents and large animal veterinarians but go forbid we should test a student.

.

Yes but we dont test engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, real estate agencts, and large animal veterinarians with the SAME test.
One of the problems with our test-obsessed system (and it is not just NCLB) is that it treats every child as the same little carbon-based life form. The child who was a "way with words" but struggles with math will be tormented and hounded until she masters math, thus getting her teacher, principal, superintendent, and buildings full of bureaucrats from Lakewood to Columbus to Washington off the hook.

She gets no special prize or encouragement for acing the reading/writing part.

[Justine Cooper]

This is a really good post and I wonder what we each can do to push toward different legislation so that we can go back to focusing on loving to learn without the strict standards of NCLB.

The NCLB is simply a desperate attempt to measure the performance of students, teachers and administrators. Most of the opposition is from the bureaucracy and is based on the teachers and administrators fear of anything that measures performance and attempts to quantify results.

We test engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and large animal veterinarians but God forbid we should test a student.

Do you realize how cities with diversity and students that don't speak English as their first language are penalized with the NCLB? I have not met one teacher that agrees with it, and for good reason. We just got a letter from Dr. Estrop saying that Lakewood failed to meet requirements again for three years even though the teaching is top rate!! That is because the measurement tool is completely unfair!!! As Dr. Estrop points out, the legislation caters to wealthy, small all white districts!!!! What a surprise!!! It never even occurred to Bush that we are not all made up of that!!!! It is a mess and this is not about "grading" teachers, it is about strict guidelines that takes away from real experiences of teaching and it expects the same of a school district teaching the largest non-English speaking population against a little all English speaking wealthy suburb. We have a top rated pre-school program here in Lakewood available to everyone regardless of income, with the best teachers I have ever seen at the pre-school level. Our kids are getting an excellent education, but the "report cards" will never reflect that.

[Justine Cooper]

As for my question of what we can do to help get the legislation changed, Dr. Estrop is requesting we "contact Representative Dennis Kucinich, Senators George Voinovich, and Sherrod Brown and tell them we need more flexibility and more funding for NCLB in order for the federal law to be more equitable for all school districts."

Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, 14400 Detroit Ave., Lkd
Senator George V. Voinovich, 1240 E. 9thSt. Suite 3061, Cleveland, 44199
Senator Sherrod Brown, 1301 E. Ninth St. Suite 1710, Clevleland, 44114

I know you all got the letter but please contact the mentioned representatives to get the needed changes made!!!

[David Lay]

http://kucinich.house.gov/

http://brown.senate.gov/

http://voinovich.senate.gov/