No Child Law Not Fair, Flexible or Funded
WEAC President Mary Bell (left) and NEA representative Becky Pringle
testify before the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee. Video
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State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and Deputy Superintendent Michael Thompson discuss NCLB's impact on Wisconsin schools. Video |
WEAC research consultant Russ Allen (left) and Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, tell the committee that 85% of local superintendents in Wisconsin believe NCLB gives the federal government too much control of Wisconsin schools. Video |
The federal 'No Child Left Behind' law "is not fair, not flexible and not funded," NEA representative Becky Pringle told the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee Thursday (September 13, 2007).
"Today, I urge you to help send a strong message to the United States Congress that 'No Child Left Behind' is not working in Wisconsin," said Pringle, a Pennsylvania teacher who is chair of the NEA's advisory committee on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the NCLB law.
"I encourage you to go on record, calling for Congress to focus on what you know works – in Wisconsin and across the country: great teachers and staff, small class sizes, one-on-one attention, ongoing teacher training and mentoring, up-to-date books and learning materials, parental involvement, and community support, instead of mandates and punishments handed down from Washington, D.C.," she said.
Pringle testified with WEAC President Mary Bell at the informational hearing, which committee chair Senator John Lehman (D-Racine) said was designed to gather input that will be forwarded to Wisconsin's congressional delegation. The 'No Child' law, which is the federal government's massive education law, is currently before Congress for reauthorization.
Several speakers told the committee that the law is ineffective, punitive and badly underfunded.
Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA), said that under the 'No Child' law, the federal government has usurped the authority of the state and local school districts over public education. The federal government, he said, funds 6% of local education costs but NCLB controls 90% of the curriculum.
"In my nearly 40 years of public education, I have not seen a more ominous or more intrusive, counterproductive federal policy regarding public education," he said.
"The medicine is killing the patient," he said.
Turner said the NCLB law has four basic flaws:
- Wisconsin students are not failing the tests; the tests are failing Wisconsin students. "Because of the high-risk nature of these exams, teachers are forced to increase time on test content and use instructional methodologies that are monotonous, repetitious drills to achieve rote memorization of unrelated facts," he said. "The tests do not require critical thinking skills, problem-solving or relevant application."
- Under NCLB, Wisconsin students are learning less. "Research has shown that the implementation of single-source high-stakes testing leads to a narrowing of the curriculum," Turner said. "Courses that are threatened and have been reduced in many schools include art, music, vocational, business skills, personal finance, etc. Many subject areas facing reduction teach the very skills demanded by the business community to keep Wisconsin economically viable."
- NCLB does not address a significant root cause of low achievement. "The schools must do everything in their power to close the achievement gap but cannot operate in a vacuum. There must be programs for improved health care for children, jobs for their parents, and equal access to technology for all children if we going to truly leave no child behind," he said.
- NCLB's ways are mean. "Every educator knows you cannot improve a student's performance by humiliating, embarrassing, intimidating and punishing them into performing better. Students perform best when challenged, rewarded and given the help and support they need."
WEAC research consultant Russ Allen said that in a survey of local Wisconsin school superintendents, 93% said the NCLB law should rely on multiple measures of student learning, not just standardized test scores.
In other results of the survey, which was conducted jointly by WEAC and WASDA:
- Only 13% of superintendents said their districts would meet the NCLB goal of 100% of students scoring proficient or advanced on tests in all grades and all subjects by 2013-14.
- 91% said NCLB should be modified so that schools and districts are credited for showing improvement (growth), or for maintaining high levels of student achievement, even if they don't meet the annual targets for proficiency.
- 46% disagreed with the statement that NCLB has improved the quality of education in their district, while only 27% agreed.
- 60% said NCLB has narrowed the curriculum in their district.
- 70% said students in their district spend too much time preparing for, and taking, standardized achievement tests that are required by NCLB.
- 63% said it is a challenge for their districts to get all students to take the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams (WKCE) seriously. "This is a low-stakes test for kids, but a high-stakes test for schools and districts," Allen said.
- 85% said NCLB gives the federal government too much control over Wisconsin's public schools.
State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster said NCLB has hundreds of requirements that tie the hands of school districts and in effect "take away sovereignty of public education from our state and our local school districts." She said Wisconsin as a state worked very hard "to do no harm" to our schools while implementing NCLB, "but we are at a threshold right now."
She said the law has more than doubled the number of students being tested every year in Wisconsin but has failed to provide adequate funding to cover those added costs. She said the testing is flawed because it doesn't follow the growth of students over time; it measures a different cohort of students from year to year. "So you measure this year's 3rd-graders against last year's 3rd-graders," she said rather than following the progress of the same students.
In addition, she said, the overemphasis on standardized testing forces schools to narrow the curriculum to focus on tested material. Wisconsin, she said, has historically provided a more balanced assessment system that allows for broader curriculum and teaching.
Burmaster said we need a system that supports what has been proven to work, including disseminating best practices, supporting quality teachers, implementing smaller class sizes, offering 4-year-old kindergarten, and teaching critical thinking skills.
WEAC President Mary Bell echoed that sentiment, noting that she just returned from a banquet honoring Top-Notch Teachers in La Crosse. Those honored teachers, she said, did not focus their primary attention on test scores but put value on knowing their students' backgrounds and knowing what is needed to make them successful and move forward. The teachers' main concern wasn't on standardized tests because, she said, they understand that "students don't all learn in the same way and at the same pace."
OnWEAC Resource Page on 'No Child Left Behind'
NCLB needs major rewrite, Weaver says
Posted September 13, 2007