Duncan: NCLB Overhaul Needs To Begin Now -- THE Journal

Policy

Duncan: NCLB Overhaul Needs To Begin Now

By David Nagel
09/25/09

Extra Credit
Duncan on ESEA Reauthorization

In this video, Education Secretary Arne Duncan issues his call to action on ESEA's reauthorization. For those whose Internet providers block YouTube, the text of the speech can be found here.

The No Child Left Behind Act has not only failed to improve student outcomes, it's actually contributing to a decline in academic standards in the United States--this according to United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has issued a call for the immediate overhaul of NCLB.

In making his appeal to educators and lawmakers to take immediate action on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in a radically modified form, Duncan went so far as to say that the effect of NCLB has been to turn education leaders into liars by making it appear that students are improving academically when, in fact, they are worse off than when the 2002 reauthorization went into effect under President George W. Bush.

"... [T]he biggest problem with NCLB is that it doesn't encourage high learning standards," Duncan said. "In fact, it inadvertently encourages states to lower them. The net effect is that we are lying to children and parents by telling kids they are succeeding when they are not."

However, NCLB has been effective in a couple areas, Duncan noted. It has helped bring to light the achievement gap that exists between various ethnic and economic groups in the country; and it has emphasized accountability for student outcomes, he said.

Duncan issued his call to action Thursday, urging a number of reforms to help transform ESEA into a force that will drive academic success and prepare students for higher education or the workforce. Highlights from the proposed changes to the law included:

A decreased reliance on bubble tests;
A greater emphasis on student academic growth or improvement within an institution so that schools and teachers receive proper credit for improving outcomes for underachieving students;
New means of assessing the effectiveness of educators and education leaders;
Programs to couple the highest-performing teachers with the students who need their help most; and
Stepped-up efforts to recruit highly effective teachers and administrators.

"Today, I am calling on all of you to join with us to build a transformative education law that guarantees every child the education they want and need--a law that recognizes and reinforces the proper role of the federal government to support and drive reform at the state and local level," Duncan said in a speech Thursday. "Our role in Washington is to support reform by encouraging bold, creative approaches to addressing underperforming schools, closing the achievement gap, strengthening the field of education, reducing the dropout rate and boosting college access."

The call to action took place during a meeting with education stakeholders this week, a video of which can be accessed on the United States Department of Education's YouTube channel here. A number of additional forums, part of ED's "Listening and Learning Tour," are scheduled through the rest of the year, meetings in which attendees will be offering input on the law. The location and dates are listed below.

ESEA Stakeholder Meeting Schedule

There will be five additional meetings about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (most recently reauthorized under the name No Child Left Behind, or NCLB). All will be an hour and a half in length and will be held at the Barnard Auditorium, Lyndon Baines Johnson Building, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Washington, DC.

Dates are as follows:

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2 p.m.

About the Author

David Nagel is the executive producer for 1105 Media's online K-12 and higher education publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. He can now be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/THEJournalDave (K-12) or http://twitter.com/CampusTechDave (higher education).

Comments

Fri, Feb 19, 2010 Larry Stafford, VA

I am a career swictcher out of choice. I teach Math and Reading in middle school. I agree with the above comments but there is one that is not mentioned. In a functonal socety everyone does not need the same training/educational skills. We see this when the national debt rises and high-skilled jobs are reduced. As a society we minimalize the importance of "low skilled" jobs yet innovation eliminates high-skilled jobs. That is its purpose. "Low-skilled" jobs are increasing as automation improves and we still have supporting work that needs to be done. How may actually believe that food magically appears, streets and buildings magically stay clean; building grow from the earth; arranged landscapes develop without human intervention; etc. Societal/industry effectiveness and growth are minimizing the number of high-skilled jobs and increasing "low-skilled" jobs. Yet we want all students to learn exactly the same without regard to learning needs; famly obligations (perceived or real, and along a straight-line cutve. This is not the way any specicies flourishes. Rather "learning" is based on a Bell Cuve that is instictive and situational. The Bell curve accounts for various pschological behaviors inherent in students. NCLB is a political ploy by the both parties (remember Ted Kennedy?) to win votes. Where is the goverment's follow-up on its effectiveness? Is the plan truly effective? If you look at statistics you will notice that education has declined since the creation of the DOEd (Pres. Carter). NCLB gratly exasperated the issue. Localities have a better idea as to educational needs in their areas than a federal "one-size-fits-all" and beauracratic system. I was a Project manager, with that exprience I try to improve my teaching plan each year. It is a contiuous struggle with perceived better policies of school systems that are based on "scientific study" (where is the analysis of thie study, what was the environmentals, control group, statistics, and analysis). NCLB has done one good thing... thre are are a lot of people making alot of money stating the obvious that good experienced teachers already know.

Thu, Oct 1, 2009 Educator, 29 years

I see that one person has made the analogy of trying to compare apples to oranges. How many of the countries that the U.S. is compared to in academic achievement actually try to educate students with mild to severe disabilites -- and report their results?? I am not aware of any. Isn't that also comparing apples to oranges? Also, randomly 'kicking out' scores of sp. ed. students, rather than counting them does not give a true picture of achievemnent. Some of the scores that are thrown out are respectable, some that are kept are not respectable.

Tue, Sep 29, 2009

I have been teaching Junior High, Senior High, and College mathematics for nearly 30 years. NCLB forces teachers to waste valuable time teaching to a high stakes test when they could be covering more material to better prepare students for post secondary pursuits. Since the passage of NCLB I have seen a decline in the amount of mathematics that I am able to cover when you take in to account that at least 2 weeks have to be spent teaching to the test. I believe that accountability to provide a quality education should be to the student and their parents, not the government. This accountability comes from the heart of the individual teacher, not from a governmental mandate.

Tue, Sep 29, 2009 Georgia Virginia

27% of America's young people drop out of high school. My comment: Students drop out of school when they see no future for them through school. Secondary education should have flexibility to develop alternative tracks for students not interested in traditional college but who may become engaged in trades. Recent international tests in math and science show our students trail their peers in other countries. For 15-year-olds in math, the United States ranks 31st. My comment: Students who are advanced in math have little or no options to leap ahead because they are siloed into the existing curriculum. We have many students who could do more if the opportunities existed. Here again, flexability for the individual is the issue.17-year olds today are performing at the exact same levels in math and reading as they were in the early 1970's on the NAEP test. My comment: Educational remediation does not exist on the individual level. Retention did not work, so we put the same students in classes with lower expectations and dumbed down curriculm and get the same results as in the era of retention. Folks like to speak about the severly disabled that we can't expect to achieve compentancies; how about the many more kids that could if they received appropriate remedial instruction rather then a revised curriclum? The US now ranks 10th in the world in the rate of college completion for 25- to 34-year-olds. My comment: One goes to college to gain some future advantage, in the meantime delaying the greatification of a paycheck and assuming an expense that is expected to be paid off in the future. If a young adult that struggled in school cannot imagine themselves in a profession that will pay off the debt, why go? Two year colleges are beginning to adapt to this population but could go farther.

Tue, Sep 29, 2009 Sp. Ed. Teacher

I agree that NCLB needs to be revisited. The year 2011 is quickly approaching and those who created goals for AYP are finally realizing what many educators already knew: 100% of the students will NOT be proficient or above in the content areas that are measured. We are so focused (pressured) toward meeting those annual goals that we are spending less and less time on life skills: 'people skills', team workers, the ability to correctly count change, etc. Please! When NCLB is revisited, consider the skills that are required for students to become productive members of society -- not all students will become doctors, lawyers, scientists. It was never intended that it should be that way. Who will repair your car when it breaks down? Who will take care of you in the rest home? Don't we want those people to be prepared for their place in society, too? I would go so far as to say that when students come to school and don't know how to count from 1 to 10, don't know their abc's, have never heard a nursery rhyme, or have not been read to before entering a classroom; then perhaps the problem does not lie completely with the schools or the teachers. We have to all work together. Stop pointing fingers!!!

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 An Educator

When I was in high school, eons ago, there were no special ed programs. Everyone worked to help slow students try to catch up. The year I took the ACT produced the highest scores before starting a major decline. We were taught the basics and the teachers were free to teach without the long arm of the government telling them what to teach. I applaud the comment about losing the Bell Curve. Anyone who has studied testing and measurements (statistics) knows that most students will fall into the Bell Curve. Now we are being told that all students must meet a specified criteria. Our school did not make AYP for the first time, but our students actually improved our school scores over the previous years. In my mind, we made Annual Yearly Progress (AYP); but just not to the the standards set by the government. If all students can meet or exceed, the test cannot be valid or reliable - how do you measure the top students??? The government should take a look at what is actually happening. The experts "fixed" education. Most of these so-called experts have never set foot in a classroom, or have not been in one for years. Judging a school and it's teachers based upon a single high-stakes test is not the way to grade performance. It is like trying to compare apples and oranges. One would think it is time to make parents assume responsibility for the shortcomings of their students. When parents don't care, students don't care. Attendance is a major factor in low scores. Also, look at elementary schools that are moving students up each year without the skills sets in place for the next grade. By the time that student reaches high school, many are so far behind that they have been set up to fail and chronic absences are common. When teachers try to educate students with rigorus course curricula, they are forced to deal with small-minded parents who complain that the coursework is too difficult. School boards are not immune from interfering with coursework and the teachers are ostracized for trying to improve the quality of education. The unattainable goal of all schools to meet or exceed standards at 100% was never believed by anyone in secondary education. Dummed down education, here we come.....

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 jean leon County

The grading of schools to me is a problem. When a school grade is a B,but the school has not made AYP and 200 plus students was retain. Is the state lying or is the district giving false information. So,is NCLB working for poor children and is the public school cheating for funds they shouldn't be getting for bonus. This is the problem with NCLB

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 Barry Wilson Iowa

Arne Duncan is to education what Dick Chaney is to world peace. NCLB has been a disaster but Arne's cures are no better. He will continue to bash public education, promote charters and push public money into private coffers... just like he did in Chicago when he was major-designated "CEO"

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 Larry Pahl Bartlett, IL

"New means of assessing teacher effectiveness" Here is the ground of the new poltical battle. Unions vs. gunslingers like Duncan. But HOW DO you assess teacher effectiveness. Whoever defines that will have the power in the new era. Because the educational literature does NOT give a clear answer on what an effective teacher is. See me book to that effect Teacher Quality and Effectiveness on Amazon.

Mon, Sep 28, 2009

A decreased reliance on bubble tests; add the sentence - increased reliance on authentic assessment that measures students' growth in 21st century skills. otherwise this is great - clear authors understand the current research on improving student learning.

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 Dan Florida

NCLB has failed in many ways. Thank you for saying so. There are too many distractions from teaching that use up the few hours of instruction available for each class in a given school year. We need to decrease the distractions on teachers and students and increase the time spent on learning. Allow teachers to focus on students willing to learn and provide alternative education under strict guidelines for those that disrupt classes, skip classes regularly or that are not motivated to try to learn. A teacher cannot be the solution to every child's needs.

Mon, Sep 28, 2009 Jamie Mitchell Neosho, Missouri

Twenty years of educating children has given me the ability to assess my students needs and create the lessons and activities that will help them understand and remember information. NCLB has taken away my ability to spend the time reaching those children. It has caused me to spend my time jumping through hoops, filling out paperwork that does not improve my teaching, and implementing new programs every few weeks that look good on paper but do not effectively teach children. Research shows that not all children are capable of scoring in the top two levels of a state test (Bell Curve). When districts, states, and our nation try to motivate our teachers through fear, it will not improve teaching methods but it will increase cheating.

Mon, Sep 28, 2009

I applaude Mr. Duncan in seeing the need to move to a value-added model to show student growth in achievement. But it is also the responsibility of each school and teacher to facilitate learning to the higest degree so that our students become prepared to compete in the 21st century global economy. Teaching this day and age goes beyond finding information in a textbook or students regurgiting information back to the teacher. It's the collaborative effort among teachers and students so that they become better critical thinkers, students who can ask effective questions, who can influence others and work together. I encourage all teachers to challenge their students on becoming life-long learners through rigorous curriculum that meets the needs of our community.

Mon, Sep 28, 2009

NCLB is not all bad but it does need to be "fixed". School officials should not be scrambling to ensure that they don't "make the list". Schools should not be "penalized" because of special education students. Some of the more severe students will NEVER get a regular high school diploma. Programs to keep..online classes that work better than traditonal classroom work for some students; ie parents, job holders. More online tutoring type programs are also needed. The main thing is that the high school diploma not become an "empty" diploma.

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