NCLB Stories

NCLB Member Stories Listed by State

Thu, 17 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Alabama	Georgia	Maine	Nevada	Oklahoma	Utah
Michelle Harris Rebecca Mosley Connie S. Myers	Elaine Colwell Sylvia Controy Marcie Kuykendall Lorraine Lassiter Pat Pepper Fredria Sterling	Julie Gardner Molly Ross	Nancy Hoffman Steven Horner Roy Mendez Irma Perez Angie Sullivan Lynn Warne Marjorie Zimmerman	Beverly Boyer Toni Burgess Kimberly Meigs Lora Reavis	Jay Blain Neil Creer Florence Graham Gayle Hoffman Margaret Pratt John Pruitt
Alaska	Hawaii	Maryland	New Hampshire	Oregon	Vermont
Cindy Lou Aillaud Heather Mildon Robert Taylor	Diane Aoki Sally Pestana Cynthia Sallee-Brown Edwina Shazar Jamie Stidger Laynie Sueyasu Evette Tampos Roberta Yamamoto	Susan Allen Melissa Dirks Nancy Gordon Karl Pence Carol Petrosky Maxine Salah Jeffrey Wolf	Maxine Mosley	Donna Bauer Diane Bonica Leona Burdett Carolyn Cooper Paula DePass-Dennis Sharon Dubeau Bonita Fillmore Michele Ford Susan Garrison More Stories	Terri Vest
Arizona	Idaho	Massachusetts	New Jersey	Pennsylvania	Virginia
Mary Pat Eul Judith Lopez RaeAnn Rumery Elaine Upham	Kristi Nivette Larry Taylor Kim Uhlorn	Donia Gobar Rosemary Jebari Laura Lawson Ann O'Halloran	William Baronowsky Marie Blistan Linda A. England Kerri Farrell Gayle Faulkner Bettina Heller Margaret Kelley Betsy Rescorla Sherrie Rizzo More Stories	Jayne Cutter Jean Eller Richard Erickson Kristie Fitzpatrick Anne Loeffler Susan Grimm McCoy Jim Sando Susan Strada	Bonnie Bowen Jeff Cobb Afreen Gootee Teresa Jones Sheila Rogers Robin Rubio
Arkansas	Illinois	Michigan	New Mexico	Rhode Island	Washington
Sarah Barton Denise Halliburton	Ina Allen Brenda L. Bandy Karen Bieschke Susan Dembek Stephanee Jordan Tabatha Ludington Mary McDonald John Meehan More Stories	Judy Gail Armstrong-Hall Ann Marie Borders Frank Burger Terese Fitzpatrick Stephen Franko Sidney Kardon Maureen Martin Karen Richards Vella Trader	Betty Patterson Margaret Stielow Dr. Joyce Stone Vicki Whitaker Beverly Whygles	Tia G. Scigulinsky Susan Wiegand	Jason Brown Samantha Chandler Jennifer Childers Kriss Crilly Catherine deJong Paul EveryHope Ann Giles Amanda Knowles Barbar Landwehr More Stories
California	Indiana	Minnesota	New York	South Carolina	West Virginia
Mary Ellen Abilez Christine Michele Alvarez Holly Barkalow Tyrone Borelli Diane Brantley Tobin Brinker Connie Chavez Audra Ciasullo Ray Clark More Stories	Ginger Calhoun Barbara Deardorff Robin Endris Deborah Hartz Michelle Hulse Lisa Koester Mark Lichtenberg Kathy Malott Bill Oates Mary Puntney-Katchmar More Stories	Callie Bush Miller Lisa Marie Miller Mary Cathryn Ricker Rodney Rowe	Lynn Diagostino Teri DiPasquale Eileen Healy Melinda MacPherson Susan Mittler	Janet Agnew Tonya Davis	Lindemarie Crawford John Richmond Jacklin Romeo
Colorado	Iowa	Mississippi	North Carolina	South Dakota	Wisconsin
Susan Banning Lynn Comaianni William Dosher Melissa Fike Kathryn Freidel Karen Hampel Brenna Isaacs Mike Lindstrom Gwynn Moore More Stories	Barbara Henke Kris Klinehart Carol Kula Jan Olson Donna Phipps Nancy Porter Donna Walsh	Michael Marks	Annette Beatty Elvira Bostic Tama Bouncer Gwendolyn Brown Sandra Covington Pamela Graham Virginia Hargett Sandra Hatley Kevin Martin More Stories	Ann Tornberg Cyndi Underberg	Melissa Barkley Julie Bratina Kraig Brownell Jack Clement Angela Drewery Danette Gauger Wendy Haag Rozalia Harris Tamara Johnson Ken Sajdak More Stories
Connecticut	Kansas	Missouri	North Dakota	Tennessee	Wyoming
Elaine Jackson Debra Beveridge Joy Gaiser Bill Jacobs Sheila Johnson Kathleen Kalt Dot Logan Louise McMinn Marie Petitti More Stories	Lynn Corum Judy Johnson Christine Litterick Lora Meirowsky Bernadine Samson Julie Ann Stuck Anita Yarbrough	Linda Hess	Toni Gumeringer Karol Nyberg Marie Smavely	Linda Delaney Sandy Hughes Mildred L. Taylor	Kelly Goede Mary Smiley
Delaware	Kentucky	Montana	Ohio	Texas
Angela Dunmore	Rebecca Hudson-Brown Elise Mohon Audrey L. White	Diane Elliott	Rebecca Brown Gail Gentile Glenna Irey Rebecca Mayer Lisa Mook Ronald Plogman Joanna Porreca Cheryl Saffold Alexis Vafides More Stories	Susan Chavis Mary DePeri George Helm, Jr. Sharie Stelzel Wayne Ward
Florida	Louisiana	Nebraska
Mary Lou Fitzpatrick Barbara Miller John Perry Teressa Willbur-Williams Stuart Wilmarth Anne Marie Wolfe	Karen Bell Ramona Malbrough Sarah Scott	Tom Meyer Mary Ann Niemoth Art Tanderup

NCLB Stories: Wayne Ward, Texas

Thu, 17 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Wayne Ward
High School Teacher
Corsicana
Corsicana, Texas

"The testing in Texas, and the evaluation of schools based on the test results has caused so much concern in our school that almost all resources are directed to those students who are at risk of not passing.

Very little attention is paid to those students who we assume will pass, and little attention is paid to those who we assume will not pass, despite our best efforts.

"With all the attention on the at-risk kids, we have created a kind of gravity that is pulling students down. The number of very high-achieving students is shrinking as little attention or resources are directed toward them. We need to also focus on the top students—not at the expense of the other students—in order to create an upward pull on the rest of the students."

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NCLB Stories: Videos of Member Stories

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Click on the video clips below to see and hear what these NEA members are saying about "No Child Left Behind."

Karol Nyberg
High School Reading Teacher
Grand Forks, North Dakota

(:36) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Teri Vest
High School English/Social Studies Teacher
Montpelier, Vermont

(:53) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Evette Tampos
Reading First Coach
Hilo, Hawaii

(:36) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Mary Ricker
Middle School
English/Language Arts Teacher
St. Paul, Minnesota

(:36) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Larry Taylor
Middle School Teacher
Athletic Director
Caldwell, Idaho

(:20) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Theresa Montano
Teacher Educator
Northridge, California

(:20) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Linda Hess
Middle School Science Teacher
St. Louis, Missouri

(:24) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Denise Carmack
Middle School
Language Arts Teacher
Robersonville, North Carolina

(:51) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Mary Smiley
Elementary School Teacher
Sheridan, Wyoming

(:16) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

Steve Brace
Elementary School Teacher
Fort Wayne, Indiana

(:25) 56k, Broadband
(Windows Media Player)

NCLB Stories South Carolina

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Tonya Davis
High School Teacher
Calhoun County
Orangeburg, South Carolina

"When I first began teaching, I arrived with the intent to change the entire world and to help each child in it, no matter what the cost (think educational mercenary). It is my strong belief that every child should receive the opportunity to meet goals and be successful.

"My school is in a rural area and is predominantly minority. It is a daunting task to inspire children who have a diminished capacity for envisioning hope. My colleagues and I work tirelessly to prepare our children for the vast (and sometimes unforgiving) world, so even though they are at a socioeconomic disadvantage, they will at least have the academic advantage that their peers have.

"Before NCLB, I was able to meet my standards and teach the things that would inspire my students to marvel at the wonders that science offers. I could spend time sharing with them cutting-edge information and introducing them to various scientific careers. I once was able to insert supplementary information about forensic science (students are inspired to enter this field because of the popularity of the CSI television program).

"Now, I am pressed to teach and re-teach only the content that will be tested and save the 'fluff' for last (if at all). For the past few years, our school has been rated unsatisfactory because of failure to meet adequate yearly progress. This year it was due to decreasing enrollment. Never mind that there was a slight improvement in test scores. Imagine the shame these children feel when their school is labeled as inadequate, when they are fully aware that their teachers are competent and highly qualified.

"I have had to field questions ranging from, 'When I graduate, is my diploma going to be valid?' to 'Are they going to take over our schools?'

"What are we supposed to do about attendance when NCLB tells my children and their families that they have the right to transfer to another school because our school is rated unsatisfactory (we are the only high school in the county and the majority of families do not have the transportation resources to send the students to schools out of the district)? Are we expected to block students from leaving our school because 'hey, we need the numbers to qualify for AYP'?

"When I graduated from high school in 1993, I believed that anything was possible and that the world was mine to conquer. My students don't have that same optimism. Each day, I face children who have had enough of failure and defeat. They feel that their only option is to leave and either enter into the world of work, or just go home and do nothing with their lives.

"My mission to help students will only end with my departure from this earth. The one thing that I request is support in making this system great for all children. NCLB is leaving children behind, along with those young educational professionals who see no improvement on the horizon. Perhaps instead of No Child Left Behind, it should have been called No Teacher Left Standing because ultimately this is what will occur if the law remains unchanged."

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NCLB Stories Janet Agnew, South Carolina

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Janet Agnew
High School Teacher
Spartanburg Three
Spartanburg, South Carolina

"When I was in school, in the '40s and '50s, the arts, physical education, music, foreign languages, and home living skills were all part of the school's plan for a well-rounded education. What happened to this?

"I taught math and science for 38 years to students in seventh grade through the second year in college. I feel that we should return to giving students a well-rounded education. I feel that you can make changes in the laws. Thank you for your help."

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NCLB Agenda Positiva

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

En Español

Hoja Informativa sobre la Agenda Positiva para la Reautorización de la Ley ESEA

Escuelas públicas excelentes son un derecho básico para cada niño. La NEA propone siete criterios para tener escuelas públicas excelentes, y cinco prioridades clave para la reautorización de la ESEA, necesarias para cumplir los criterios.

La NEA cree que estos criterios prepararán a todos los estudiantes para el futuro con técnicas del Siglo XXI;

Crearán entusiasmo para el aprendizaje y la participación de todos los estudiantes en las aulas;
Eliminarán las brechas en el progreso de los estudiantes y lo aumentarán en todos los estudiantes;
Asegurarán que todos los educadores cuenten con los recursos y las herramientas que necesitan para hacer el trabajo.

Los siete criterios son:

Programas y servicios de calidad que satisfagan la gama completa de necesidades de todos los niños de manera que puedan ir a la escuela todos los días listos y preparados para aprender;
Altas expectativas y normas con un currículo riguroso y completo para todos los estudiantes;
Condiciones de calidad para una enseñanza y aprendizaje de toda la vida;
Una fuerza laboral calificada, atenta, diversa y estable;
Responsabilidad compartida para la rendición de cuentas en las escuelas por los interesados a todos los niveles;
Participación de los padres , la familia y la comunidad;
Financiación adecuada , equitativa y sostenible.

La versión actual de la ESEA —La Ley Que No Se Quede Ningún Niño Atrás (“No Child Left Behind Act”, NCLB) —ha fijado metas que son importantes para la NEA y nuestra sociedad —para mejorar el progreso de los estudiantes y ayudar a eliminar las brechas existentes en el progreso y las técnicas en nuestro país.

Nosotros queremos que en la reautorización se retengan las cláusulas positivas de la ESEA, tanto las que existían antes de la NCLB como aquellas que fueron agregadas por la NCLB.

Sin embargo, existen fallas fundamentales en la NCLB. Esta ley no da un cuadro exacto del aprendizaje de los alumnos ni del éxito de las escuelas, y sus cláusulas sobre rendición de cuentas agotan los escasos recursos de las escuelas públicas.

El Congreso debe cambiar su actual énfasis en catalogar y castigar a las escuelas utilizando un sistema de rendición de cuentas universal y mandatos seriamente carentes de fondos, por uno que incluya una flexibilidad de sentido común, apoyo a los educadores para que pongan en práctica programas que mejoren el aprendizaje por todos los alumnos, recompense el éxito y ofrezca una asistencia completa a las escuelas que más ayuda necesitan.

Las cinco prioridades siguientes son cruciales para alcanzar las metas de mejorar el progreso de los estudiantes, eliminar las brechas en su progreso y proporcionar un maestro de calidad a cada niño.

Rendición de cuentas que recompense el éxito y apoye a los educadores para que puedan ayudar a los estudiantes a aprender;
Clases de tamaño más pequeño para mejorar el progreso de los estudiantes;
Educadores de calidad en todas las aulas y escuelas;
Recursos para asegurar una escuela pública excelente para todos los niños.

NCLB: 5 años después

Hablan los maestros

NCLB Stories: Susan Strada, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Susan Strada
Second Grade Teacher
Wallenpaupack Area
Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania

"I work in an excellent school district. The board, superintendent, and administrators are all committed to doing what is best for kids. Recently, the local paper -- the Scranton Times -- 'graded' 37 districts in northeastern Pennsylvania. My district was one of the top three performing districts for the fourth year.

"What is really amazing about this is that my district has 34.2 percent of our students classified as low-income; the other top two districts had a 8.1 percent and 16 percent low-income population. We also have a special education population of 17.5 percent; the other top two districts were at 14 percent and 11.9 percent.

"Now for the kicker: For the last two years we have been in 'school improvement' because of the scores that our special education students are getting on the PSSAs. This just doesn't make sense to me.

"I truly believe that my district goes above and beyond to educate all our students. People actually move into our district because of what is done for the special education students, and now we are being cited because we have a large enough special education population to be considered a sub-group. This is not fair to those children or my district. Go to www.paupack.ptd.net to see my district's Web site."

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NCLB Stories: Jim Sando, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Jim Sando
Fifth Grade Teacher
Wissahickon
North Wales, Pennsylvania

"So much of what we do as educators, especially in the elementary grades, involves helping our students learn to become real human beings. Math, reading, science, social studies, the arts, and health issues are critical to a student's success in life. So why are those things not considered in ESEA?

"I see my job as helping my kids grow as much as they are capable of growing in all academic areas, but that's not enough. I want my kids to leave my classroom as better citizens of our community, as more respected and respectful than when they arrived.

"My students are expected to learn the academics and to apply positive social skills to all of their interactions. From pushing in their chairs, to holding doors for others, from saying please and thank you, to asking permission to use someone's materials -- these and many other social habits are learned in a positive classroom environment.

"And it is just these environments that are being eroded by the increasing pressure to improve test scores every year.

"Less time is being devoted to having students learn social skills, as we focus more core time on test prep. Where once there was time for daily gatherings to discuss the social issues that affect our day, we now have time devoted each day to another practice math problem or to another writing prompt. I see the slow, inexorable process of turning once-rich classroom experiences into cookie-cutter test prep centers devoted to turning out test-taker widgets.

"Tomorrow's leaders are in our classrooms today. Will they be prepared to read, write, and cypher? Probably. Will they have the skills to be a positive, supportive member of tomorrow's communities? Not if we keep going down the road of No Child Left Untested.

"Let's step back and ask what we really want -- and, yes ,we really do want it all. I think we can have it all as well, if we begin to see the process of education as a continuum that begins at birth and in which all the stakeholders -- parents, community and business leaders, politicians, educators, every one of us -- take our rightful place and accept our responsibility for success and follow through with the support and the resources to help see that all children reach their greatest potential.

"Only then can we hope to really leave no child behind."

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NCLB Stories: Susan Grimm McCoy, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Susan Grimm McCoy
Library Media Specialist
Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

"Every year I help give the Pennsylvania state test. This year I assisted the ESL teacher. There was a student who had just arrived at our school five days before the PSSA test. She and her family were from Russia. She knew a very limited amount of English.

"She did not need to take the reading test, but she had to take the math test. She concentrated so much, and we did try to arrange for a Russian interpreter, but none was available. Each day she tried to work, and she did work to the best of her ability. As the days ended, she was near tears because she did not understand what to do.

"When the testing was done, she came and told me in broken English that she tried hard to work, but she said some of the things she had not learned in Russia. At one break, she attempted to do some flash cards with me to learn basic English direction words. She worked hard. I had the opportunity to meet her parents.

"The interpreter, who had spoken with them, told me that they had come to America for religious freedom, and they had tried to have their children learn English before they came. I watched the father sit in our school office waiting for his daughter, practicing basic English words with picture cards. This family wanted to do the best for their new country. They wanted to become citizens as soon as possible.

"When I told them that their daughter had worked hard on the state test, they did not understand the need for government tests when they had only just arrived in this country. I hope that I alleviated their fears about this test. Please do not have people new to our country take a test before they have some knowledge of the language."

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NCLB Stories: Anne Loeffler, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Anne Loeffler
Speech Therapist
Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12
Codorus, Pennsylvania

"Each year, the special education classroom teachers I work with spend hours preparing to give the alternative test to their students. My students miss their individual speech sessions as I stay in the classroom and the children are taken, one by one, for their individual tests.

"It takes the teachers hours to make or buy the items that are required in order for them to administer the test. The testing takes days and requires at least one assistant, sometimes more, to accomplish each test, since the child is videotaped while he or she moves through the tasks. The amount of time taken to administer the test seems endless.

"On the testing days, the teacher is pulled from the classroom and the children are given substitute activities, which are not as helpful as regularly scheduled activities. It should be noted that the scoring, which is done at the state level, requires a large amount of money and time, as other teachers watch each testing video and score the student's performance.

"I am left wondering how this can be a productive use of student and teacher time and resources. It seems like we are moving through a process with little purpose.

"Take, for example, one of my nonverbal autistic students who has been evaluated through other means and found to be working at the level of a high school senior, although he is still of middle-school age.This student, when given the required alternative state test, does nothing but sit and laugh at the camera during the testing situation.

"We have tried hiding the camera to encourage better performance, but he is a bright autistic student and knows that his environment has changed and his response is to sit and laugh. He fails his testing simply because he is out of his classroom routine and cannot function.

"One test will not tell the academic ability of this student nor the ability of many others. We need to be allowed to measure student performance in a variety of ways if we are truly concerned about accurately measuring any student's performance."

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NCLB Stories: Kristie Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Kristie Fitzpatrick
Elementary School Counselor
Norristown Area
Allentown, Pennsylvania

"As a counselor, I am well aware of the trials and tribulations that my students face. On a daily basis, I am reminded that my students have so much more to worry about than just getting a proficient score on a state standards test.

"I am consistently forced to set aside the mental health and well being of my students because they are too busy preparing for state tests, taking state tests, and then worrying about whether or not their school will be standing as-is the following year.

"Our students are well aware of the stresses that are placed upon them and the extreme expectations set upon them by the state. Many of my students are too concerned with their home lives -- the stress their parents face, the incarceration of their parents, their family's financial situation, and life in general. It is unjust to only judge a student's worth and a teacher's worth using a single test and to place unbelievable expectations on a child because of ESEA. They are children!

"We must remember that, yes, students need a strong education, and they will get it, but they also need support and a chance to breathe and live. They need to know that, as teachers, parents, educators, and supporters, we are here for them personally, socially, and academically -- we're not just around to teach to a test and to create pressure based upon a piece of legislation.

"We are here for our students in every way. We should care for them, nurture them, and educate them. Doing so will create the best students of all. ESEA allows only for testing and pressure -- this does not create successful students."

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NCLB Stories: Richard Erickson, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Richard Erickson
Adjunct Professor
Cabrini College
Media, Pennsylvania

"I was a secondary school teacher for 38 years and now am a retired member. I am an adjunct at Cabrini College, teaching elementary social studies methods to local teachers.

"I have heard a lot of stories over the last several years. The most common complaint in my class is that social studies time has been cut. In some schools, it has been eliminated. In many schools, it has been limited to a half-hour three times a week. The social studies curriculum has been bastardized by making it the stepchild of language arts and just another way of teaching reading and reading skills. Doesn't social studies have value in itself?

"While this has upset me, my students are more upset about another change in their school. In a few schools in our area, recess time has been reduced or eliminated. How can administrators be so blind? I have had to lend a shoulder to cry on.

"One evening, a third-grade teacher arrived to class distraught. She informed us that starting the next day her class would no longer have recess time. She didn't know how they would handle that, and how she would handle it herself.

"This creative teacher reported, later in the course, that she had found ways during the classroom day for the students to move about, so that some physical tension could be released. How can administrators forget the real needs of children? Can a few points on a test be more important? How?"

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NCLB Stories: Jean Eller, Pennsylvania

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Jean Eller
Elementary School Teacher
Wattsburg Area
Waterford, Pennsylvania

"What is happening to early childhood education in our country? Once upon a time, the kindergarten classroom was filled with singing, laughing, speaking, listening, doing artwork, sharing, and so many more developmentally appropriate practices.

"And now, since NCLB, the story has changed. Our little ones must be able to read, write, add, and subtract before their sixth birthday, regardless of their background, and that means lots of practice tests and then passing the high-stakes tests. Let's not let the story end there. Let's work together with the legislators to fund and fix NCLB!"

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NCLB Stories: Need to Improve Assessment and Accountability

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Why...

We need meaningful accountability that accurately measures student learning and school success. The goal should be to promote improved student learning, reward success, and provide meaningful assistance to students and schools most in need of help.

Michelle Harris
Middle School Teacher
Shelby County Schools
Chelsea, Alabama

"The idea that all children can learn is great. The idea that every child learns at the same rate, at the same time is one that no parent should accept as accurate! Experience with children will tell you that this is not true. In our school system, we are working feverishly to develop pacing guides to regulate what is taught every day. We are setting up our children and our teachers for failure. This law is being used as an excuse to not teach children from where they are; we are discouraged from meeting 'Johnny' on his second-grade level and bringing him forward. Let me show and document progress, and I will be happy to do so. But this law, with its dependency on standardized tests, doesn't accomplish what politicians tell you it does."

Robert Taylor
High School Teacher
Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska

"I have seen the number of students enrolled in chemistry drop since the implementation of testing. I have also noticed a drop in the level of student preparedness for chemistry. My anecdotal observations were validated by what I saw on their standards-based exam results. NCLB has set the minimum performance level necessary for students to pass the high school graduation exam but has failed to maintain high standards for all students.

"While I can continue to maintain high standards in my classroom, students who have passed their graduation exam have less incentive to push themselves to excellence. NCLB is creating a generation of students who are meeting standards that were set by political considerations rather than those that are necessary for the United States to maintain its technological and scientific edge in the world. Congress needs to allow teachers to set high standards for all students on an individual basis rather than allow political considerations to set the educational agenda."

RaeAnn Rumery
Special Needs Teacher
Cartwright
Phoenix, AZ

"Standardization of assessment and accountability cause me to use my precious teaching time to conduct student assessments that are far above the ability levels of my students. Even though the assessments do not give me information to drive my instruction, they still must be reported. As a National Board Certified teacher, I am confident that I know my students and can assess their growth and needs in a manner that supports their level of performance."

Christine Michele Alvarez
Elementary School Teacher Visalia Unified School District
Visalia, California

I am a veteran teacher and former Association vice president, who also has the dubious distinction of working at the first and only elementary school in California to enter into fifth-year program improvement. Two-thirds of the school's teachers and all of the administrators were reassigned to other school sites because of test scores.

Furthermore, the school’s teachers were directed by the administration not to allow students to use crayons in the classroom because it was not time spent directly engaged in print.

Teachers were virtually not allowed to teach art, so I had to inform district officials that I was unable to give trimester grades for art. Completing report cards for a class of 32 students went from a manageable three-hour task to an unbelievable 15 hours of uncompensated work time.

Teachers at program-improvment schools throughout our district have been overwhelmed with extra staff development, training, book studies, curriculum-mapping activities, and more without adequate compensation for the extra work hours, and usually with no compensation at all.

NCLB is designed with 47 ways for a school site and a district to fail and only one way for them to pass. It is inevitable that all California schools will be in program-improvement status within a few years. I am now at a different school site that is currently not in program-improvement status; however, I know that the nightmare NCLB program-improvement status is always only a test away. NCLB hurts teachers, and NCLB hurts students. NCLB is leaving the schools, and everyone in them, behind.

David Ouch
Elementary School Teacher
Compton Unified School District
Sierra Madre, California

"Teaching is not only my profession, but it is also my life! Be it such, I love to see students' eyes light up when they learn new concepts, or when they are engaged in various activities that allow them to be creative. But in recent years, I have seen bright eyes, that had been full of life and ideas, turn dull with boredom and stress. Why? Where has the curiosity gone? Test prep, test prep, and more test prep!

"Most of our school days are filled with test-prep activities. If not test prep, then we are reviewing for the test! It saddens me. It tears my heart apart to have to share this. I can recall days in which we have done so much mandated test prep that my students have begged me to go out for PE. Unfortunately, we couldn't because we needed to get ready for the test!

"Why so much test prep? I am teaching in a district that is considered low performing, and many of our schools are labeled non-performing or program improvement. And being one of the few schools on the border, we want very much -- and will work very hard -- to make sure our students are not stigmatized. The consequence of such a desire has a cost. I'm not sure that the price is worth it. Yet that is the choice NCLB leaves us with."

Melissa Fike
Elementary School Teacher
St Vrain Valley
Longmont, Colorado

"I spend my days defending our excellent reading and writing programs in an extremely overcrowded school because there might be a blip in the testing results. (Try having 720 kids in a school built for 500, two new administrators, and no materials to teach mandated programs.)

"Standardized state testing is but one measure of a child's progress, not the only measure. It's like judging the quality of a dentist based on how many cavities his patients have. What if they only come to him when they have a problem? He can't control that.

"We must have a shared responsibility to educate our children. Don't penalize us because our kids might come to school unprepared to learn. Let us help make them better."

John Perry
Elementary School Teacher
Hillsborough County
Tampa, Florida

"Before the beginning of the last school year, during a summer planning meeting, my principal laid out several new policies for the coming year. The apparent impetus for these new policies was the fact that our school, like most schools in Florida, had never made AYP under NCLB.

"The new policies included a couple that directly affected the students. One was that there would be no more Fun Fridays. While I certainly do not condone teachers taking time at the end of the day on Friday just to goof off, certainly a fun curriculum-related activity as a reward for good behavior seems reasonable. But no.

"The other, more nefarious policy, one that has become common in our district, was to forbid field trips for grades three through five until after FCAT testing (first two weeks of March).

"This policy ignores that field trips might be an integral part of the learning that will be tested by FCAT, and that many opportunities for appropriate field trips will be lost when shows, performances, and volunteers can only be scheduled after FCAT (a performance might only be scheduled during the first semester, for example).

"These are the symptoms that are being felt even in schools with principals who had not previously made concessions to the testing insanity. Eventually, NCLB will force us all into insanity."

NCLB Stories: Requirements Don't Meet Needs of Students with Disabilities

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Why...

We need to tailor tests to the individual needs of students, particularly those with cognitive disabilities, and to measure individual student progress over time.

Mary Ann Niemoth
Special Education High School Teacher
Hastings Public Schools
Hastings, Nebraska

"ESEA needs to be changed to meet the needs of my students! My high school students are functioning at the first- and second-grade reading levels and cannot take the at-grade-level standards tests. They are only able to write five- to seven-word sentences (and that is on a good day). Instead, I must give them tests for their reading levels at the ninth- to twelfth-grade level (to match their peers).

"School should be more than just teaching to standards."

Connie S. Myers
Middle School Teacher
Shelby County
Ashville, AL

"As a teacher of children with special needs, I am desperately aware that the students I teach will never attain adequate yearly progress, according to the standards as they are now written. No law can change the ability level of these precious students. Most of them, however, will be able to enter society and perform tasks that will provide-if not a living wage-at least a level of proficiency that will allow them to feel pride in a job well done.

"ESEA in its current form does not allow for the exceptional child (beyond one percent of the population). Please contact the teachers in your area, and ask them how to correct the unreasonable requirements of ESEA-before it is reauthorized!"

Carol Petrosky
Special Education Teacher
Anne Arundel County
Severn, Maryland

"Our children are already being left behind. We teach the most severely disabled students in our county, and yet we have to teach at least 10 objectives in math and reading after we have reviewed the state standards and curriculum's. Appropriate education is not one of the objectives. Our students need to learn the most basic functional life skills, but we have to spend most of our time putting together and creating a test based on math and reading (soon to be science and social studies).

"It has broken the spirit of many of the teachers in our school and many schools in our county. We are told to start September 1.

"One teacher asked if she could transfer to another class that does not have alternative Maryland assessment (alt-msa), so she can go to graduate school (so she can be deemed to be highly qualified). She cannot do both. "We have visited the state's department of ed to share our stories, to no avail. I have presented information to our MSTA board of directors, including the state director of special education, who had been asked to attend. But we have not made any major changes.

"It is very difficult to teach math and reading skills to students who are so disabled that toileting, feeding, and language development are more important in their daily life. Our stories would make any teacher want to leave our profession. And many are.

"I spoke to our negotiating team and, due to my presentation, we were to include a half day of planning for each student that a teacher has to provide alt-msa. The story goes on and on. We are not giving up yet. We are planning to visit the state education department during one of their open meetings in September. We will not be quiet. We need help. Please listen to our stories.

"We do want accountability and appropriate education for our students, but NCLB has been a disaster to our schools, especially for the special education students in our system. So many of our school programs have been canceled, professional development has been canceled, all due to the amount of time and work needed just to create the alt-msa testing. Please help us. Where is the common sense?

"I could go on about the amount of money spent on materials, substitutes, and copying, money that could have been spent more wisely on good education. I do not have enough time to tell all the stories."

Steven Horner
Middle School Teacher
Clark County
Las Vegas, Nevada

"I am a special education teacher who teaches the severely emotionally challenged . Due to their disabilities, many students have a very difficult time with standardized tests and will either just give up or become extremely agitated when they encounter a question they do not know. One of my students two years ago encountered one of these questions and tore his test up into very small pieces.

"With the implementation of NCLB, however, his scores had to be counted and without an alternative measure of achievement, his ability to learn will not be correctly measured."

Lynn Warne
Elementary School Teacher
Washoe County
Sparks, Nevada

"I am writing to you today as the parent of a special education student. My son, now 12, has endured years of humiliating tests and test results. He already knows that he does not perform at his classmates' level, yet to be repeatedly tested throughout the year to assess his progress towards success on grade-level tests-even though he is not performing at grade level-is demoralizing for his teachers, his parents but, most importantly, for him.

"We are always doing damage control after these tests are administered and the results are returned. This madness must end and we need realistic methods, objectives, and goals for our students."

Barbara Miller
Techer of Exceptional Students
Hillsborough County
Riverview, Florida

"NCLB has had a negative effect on my students, rather than improving their education. I work with the most difficult students in the district, those with severe emotional and behavior problems. These students have serious problems with which to contend, without the poorly thought-out demands placed on schools by NCLB.

"A prime example would be Quatavius, a fourth-grade African-American boy who comes from a low-income home. His father had been in prison for several years and was slated to be released this year, but he recently passed away while still incarcerated. His [Quatavius's] grandfather died one week later from a heart attack.

"Quatavius has been in special education for most of his school career. He has difficulty in most academic areas but still is eager to learn. What I should be doing for this child, in addition to assisting him in receiving couseling, is providing him with a high-interest curriculum with multi-sensory approaches to help further his progress. I do as much of this as possible.

"In the past year, we ran a class business as a part of our study of economics, we grew a vegetable garden as a part of our science unit on plants, and we set up our own classroom planetarium as a part of our study of the solar system. These units included activities from all of the curriculum areas and were highly motivating to my students. Unfortunately, with the emphasis on high-stakes testing for student promotion and school grades in the state of Florida, I have had to divert a great deal of time to test preparation.

"The anxiety created in already emotionally fragile students is incredible. Quatavius will frequently shut down and will refuse to try, rather than risk failure. This just exacerbates his current situation. While he and other students in my classroom have shown more than a year's growth in a year's time, they still do not meet the criteria set by NCLB. This leaves me feeling discouraged and disillusioned about my role in the education of these very needy children.

"Florida has established stringent guidelines for measuring success and promotion. While my students and my school have shown progress and have received good grades from the state, we are still listed as failing to meet AYP.

"I think the federal guidelines were created by uninformed individuals who lack the perspective to develop realistic, practical goals for schools. I also believe that education is the responsibility of the states and that we should not have to deal with additional and often conflicting demands placed upon teachers and schools by the federal government. Learning should be interesting and fun and teaching a joy. NCLB has taken this from education. Lawmakers should look at the unintended consequences of their actions and let those of us on the frontlines have a voice in deciding what we need for our students, rather than having our hands tied."

NCLB: Voces del aula

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

En Español

CONTACTO: Miguel A. Gónzalez
(202) 822-7823, Mgonzalez@nea.org

8 de enero, 2007

El Quinto Aniversario Presenta una Oportunidad para

Actualizar la Ley “Que No Se Quede Ningún Niño Atrás”

La NEA relata las experiencias de educadores con la ley, y aboga por que se hagan cambios positivos durante su reautorización

WASHINGTON — Cinco años después que el presidente firmó la Ley “Que No Se Quede Ningún Niño Atrás” (“No Child Left Behind Act”, NCLB por sus siglas del inglés), esta polémica ley todavía sigue padeciendo de una escasez de fondos equivalente a varios miles de millones de dólares, y continúa concentrándose en aplicar pruebas iguales para todos y castigando injustamente a muchas escuelas y estudiantes. Hoy, la Asociación Nacional de Educación publica relatos de testigos de las fallas de dicha ley y señala que esta debe satisfacer las necesidades de aquéllos que están en las aulas.

“El quinto aniversario es el segundo punto de arranque para la NCLB”, dijo Reg Weaver, presidente de la NEA. “Los educadores han presenciado directamente los problemas con la ley y han indicado los cambios que es necesario hacerle. Cuando los legisladores consideren la reautorización de la Ley de Educación Primaria y Secundaria, tendrán la oportunidad de contemplar el futuro y hacer cambios positivos para asegurar que cada niño tenga una escuela pública excelente.”

La NEA publicó “NCLB/ESEA: It’s Time for a Change! Voices from America’s Classrooms”, que incluye las experiencias personales de casi 400 educadores de todo el país.

Alrededor del 70 por ciento de los miembros de la NEA desaprueba la NCLB y el 57 por ciento quiere que le hagan reformas importantes, según una reciente encuesta. La mayoría de la gente comparte las preocupaciones de los educadores. Casi 6 de cada 10 americanos creen que la NCLB no ha surtido ningún efecto en las escuelas o que su efecto ha sido negativo, de acuerdo con una encuesta hecha por Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup.

Delegados de la NEA en representación de los 3.2 millones de miembros de la Asociación aprobaron una Agenda Positiva de la NEA para la Reautorización de la ESEA, que contiene reformas prácticas a la ley. Los elementos clave del plan incluyen sistemas de rendición de cuentas que recompensan el éxito, clases de menor tamaño, recursos adecuados, educadores de calidad en cada aula y padres, familias y comunidades dedicados.

En lugar de concentrarse en pruebas que tanto depende de ellas, la estrategia integral de la NEA pide que el progreso de los estudiantes se mida con el transcurso del tiempo utilizando varios indicadores. La NCLB toma una foto instantánea del progreso de los estudiantes con dos pruebas hechas en un día, en lugar de presentar un retrato completo de las necesidades y los logros de los estudiantes. El plan de la NEA transformaría la NCLB para que ayude a los estados y las escuelas a mejorar el progreso general de los estudiantes al tiempo que elimina las diferencias en el progreso.

Terri Vest, una maestra de escuela secundaria de Montpelier, Vermont, dijo que una de sus primeras experiencias con la NCLB fue con la estandarización de las pruebas. Una alumna con ciertas desventajas de aprendizaje había estado estudiando mucho todo el año escolar y sacando buenas notas, pero después se pasó tres días tomando exámenes.

“Cuando terminaron los exámenes, se me acercó y me dijo: ´Voy a dejar la escuela´, indicó Vest, “Yo le dije, ´No, tú no vas a dejar la escuela. ¿Qué estás diciendo?´. Ella contestó: ´Soy una estúpida. Yo siempre pensé que era lista, pero creo que todos ustedes me lo han estado haciendo demasiado fácil porque les caigo bien. Yo tomé esta prueba y sé que me fue mal en ella, y soy estúpida.´ Eso es desalentador. Estoy viendo a esta niña que va a triunfar en su vida. Ella cuenta con todo lo que se requiere para ser un adulto exitoso. Y está lista para dejar la escuela… porque toda su vida, todo su trabajo, se reduce a unas pocas cifras.”

Este sistema “del mismo tipo de educación” para todos con que la NCLB enfoca la educación no ha dado los resultados prometidos. Según un estudio hecho recientemente por el Proyecto de Derechos Civiles en Harvard, “la NCLB no tuvo un impacto significativo para mejorar el progreso en lectura y matemáticas a lo largo de toda la nación y en los estados”, y “no ha ayudado al país y los estados a reducir gran cosa la deficiencia en progreso.”

Poner tanto énfasis en pruebas de lectura y matemáticas también ha obligado a miles de escuelas a reducir, e incluso a eliminar, el tiempo destinado a otras materias, según el Center on Education Policy. Desde 2002, cuando se promulgó la ley, el 71 por ciento de los 15,000 distritos escolares del país ha reducido el tiempo dedicado a temas como arte, estudios sociales e historia. Conforme a la NCLB, las escuelas que no produzcan calificaciones suficientemente altas en las pruebas enfrentan duras sanciones.

Un número cada vez mayor de escuelas teme esas sanciones porque la ley ha estado sumamente escasa de fondos — aproximadamente 40,000 millones — desde su promulgación en 2002. Alrededor del 80 por ciento de los distritos escolares dijeron que tienen costos relacionados con la NCLB que no están cubiertos por los fondos federales. La Agenda Positiva de la NEA insta a los legisladores a proporcionar herramientas y recursos adecuados para cumplir con la ley.

Una coalición de 100 organizaciones diversas, entre ellas la NEA, pide al Congreso que haga estos y otros cambios importantes en la ley. Las propuestas han recibido el apoyo de ambos partidos: durante el 109no. Congreso se presentaron 41 propuestas de ley, en las cuales los legisladores cruzaron las líneas de sus partidos para mejorar la NCLB.

“La responsabilidad es una calle de dos vías”, señaló Weaver. “Los educadores están dispuestos a rendir cuentas, pero necesitan las herramientas para hacer el trabajo. Los miembros de la NEA han esbozado cambios claros que mejorarán la ley, pero más importante aún, hemos identificado reformas que ayudarán a preparar a nuestros niños y estudiantes a vivir vidas exitosas y productivas. La NEA pide al Congreso que considere las muchas propuestas bipartidarias para reformar la NCLB cuando se inicie el proceso de reautorización.”

Para más información sobre la NCLB:
www.nea.org/esea/posagendaexecsum.html

Para más información sobre “Voces del Aula”: www.nea.org/esea/nclbspanish.html

Para más información sobre la declaración organizacional conjunta sobre la NCLB:
www.nea.org/presscenter/nclbjointstatement.html

# # #

La Asociación Nacional de Educación es la mayor organización de empleados profesionales del país, representando a 3.2 millones de maestros de escuelas primarias y secundarias, profesores universitarios, administradores de escuelas, profesionales auxiliares de la enseñanza, educadores retirados y estudiantes preparándose para ser maestros.

NCLB in Spanish

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

En Español

Robin Rubio
Maestra de Escuela Primaria
Condado de Fairfax
Woodbridge, Virginia

"Soy maestra de idiomas extranjeros. Enseño un curso de introducción a idiomas a alumnos de sexto grado (francés, español, alemán, latín) y algo sobre las culturas donde se hablan o hablaban estos idiomas. Enseño en tres escuelas primarias (como parte del programa IB para los años intermedios).

"Los estudiantes están preguntando constantemente si podemos hacer cosas especiales, como celebrar mini-festivales, traer platillos especiales, hacer cosas que hagan más entretenido el estudio de un idioma extranjero. Lamentablemente, no tenemos tiempo para hacerlo. Los maestros en las aulas consideran que estoy tomándome demasiado tiempo del que ellos necesitan para preparar a los estudiantes para los exámenes, de manera que nuestras escuelas puedan cumplir con los requisitos que exige la ley Que No Se Quede Ningún Niño Atrás.

"Todo en las escuelas primarias donde enseño gira en torno a si los maestros están haciendo o no todo lo que pueden para asegurar que sus estudiantes pasen las pruebas.

"Es muy desalentador ver que el día escolar se está haciendo tan preceptivo y regimentado. Mis alumnos son los que salen perdiendo. Y mis colegas tampoco tienen el placer de enseñar como antes."

###

Connie Chávez
Maestra de Escuela Primaria
Hemet Unified School District
San Jacinto, California

"He sido maestra de escuela primaria desde hace 15 años. He visto muchos cambios en la manera en que se supone que los maestros enseñemos en nuestras aulas. Creo que soy una maestra calificada y siempre he hecho lo mejor que he podido para cerciorarme de que mis alumnos reciban la mejor educación posible. He tratado de asegurarme que estoy enseñando a mis alumnos; también he tratado de asegurarme que ellos la pasen bien en la escuela. Pero ahora, con los mandatos de la NCLB, la escuela parece tan monótona.

"Hay que pasar tantas horas enseñando matemáticas y lectura a partir de un currículo aprobado por el estado, y después tenemos que pasar más tiempo dando lecciones de refuerzo del mismo currículo. La creatividad de los maestros ha sido reprimida. ¿Dónde está el tiempo para las ciencias, los estudios sociales, el arte – y al mismo tiempo pasarla bien?

"No me malentiendan; yo creo en seguir normas y en rendir cuentas, pero los políticas han llevado las cosas al extremo. ¿Dónde está su rendición de cuentas? Ellos esperan tanto de nosotros, y sin embargo no hay dinero suficiente para apoyar la NCLB. Espero que esto cambie, ¿pero cuándo?

"Necesitamos dejar que todos (padres, dueños de tiendas, padres, políticos y la prensa) sepan cuán terriblemente mala es la NCLB para la educación, especialmente cuán mala es para los niños."

###

Natalie Gaza
Maestra de Educación Especial
Los Angeles Unified SD
Los Angeles, California

"Me hice maestra de educación especial por dos razones: Yo quería enseñar y abogar por las personas con discapacidades. Mientras tomaba el programa de credenciales de maestra, me veía a mí misma habilitando y educando a un grupo de estudiantes que, en el pasado, se habían quedado atrás. Lo que yo no esperaba hacer era dar pruebas que no solamente no eran equitativas, sino que además eran injustas y crueles.

"Nunca me olvidaré de mi primer año de maestra, tan solo cuatro años atrás. Un estudiante de quinto grado, cuya habilidad y progreso se había determinado que estaban al nivel de segundo grado de acuerdo con su IEP, fue obligado a pasar varios días tomando una prueba que estaba muy por encima de su nivel de habilidad, y finalmente rompió en llanto. Mientras él estaba sentado llorando y sujetando su lápiz, yo también sentía ganas de llorar.

"Yo creo en la rendición de cuentas y en la evaluación. Yo no creo en castigos crueles e inusuales. ¿Cuánto va a terminar todo esto?"

###

Leona Burdett
Maestra de inglés como segundo idioma (ESOL)
Salem Keizer
Albany, OR

"Yo le enseño inglés a alumnos recién llegados que están tomando pruebas después de un año en esta escuela y que todavía no entienden completamente el inglés.

"Esto les produce mucho estrés innecesario.

"Paren esta práctica irrazonable. Los estudios realizados han demostrado que a ellos va a tomarles de tres a siete años dominar el inglés. Seamos justos."

###

Kriss Crilly
Maestra de Escuela Primaria
Wenatchee School District
Wenatchee, WA

"Más de la mitad de mis alumnos hablan español como primer idioma. La ESEA es tan injusta con ellos. Ellos no pasan las pruebas exigidas, sin embargo esos estudiantes uniformemente logran hacer más de un año de progreso en varias materias. Con anterioridad, mis estudiantes no tenían que pasar la prueba WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) para poder graduarse, y sin embargo han llegado a hacer cosas sobresalientes después de la escuela secundaria.

Sin embargo, en aquel entonces no habrían pasado la prueba WASL. Un ejemplo: Luís no solamente se esforzaba con el idioma, sino que también se unió a una pandilla. Él fue alumno mío cuando estaba en el séptimo y octavo grado. Fue expulsado de la escuela secundaria, asistió a una escuela secundaria alternativa por poco tiempo, e incluso fue arrestado—sin embargo, este pasado mes de junio (2006) fui invitada por su familia a asistir a la celebración de su graduación de la universidad.

Además de su familia, él me invitó a mí, a su entrenador de lucha libre de la escuela secundaria y a su oficial de libertad bajo palabra para jóvenes. Se graduó con una Maestría en trabajos sociales de Eastern Washington University. Me pregunto qué habría sido de él hoy día si entonces no le hubieran permitido graduarse de la secundaria.

"Y por último, ¿cómo afecta la ESEA a mi comunidad? ¡Nosotros nos vemos obligados a gastar dinero de los impuestos y otros fondos en cosas que son requisitos del gobierno federal, pero sin fondos asignados! Y los castigos y sanciones son ridículos y extremadamente punitivos. Esto tiene que cambiar."

NCLB Stories: NCLB Unfair to English Language Learners

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Why...

We need to treat English Language Learners more fairly and recognize the progress that students make in learning English as they are also learning subject area content.

Larry Taylor
Elementary School Teacher
Wilder
Caldwell, Idaho

"Since NCLB has come into existence, we have had to go from teaching a full curriculum to a scripted curriculum aimed at the ISAT testing in our state. We are a rural school that is ninety percent Latino and 100 percent free and reduced lunch; we are also a whole school designated as Title I.

"These funds have to go toward keeping test scores up in the designated curricula and not toward our most at-need students, which includes our ESL's, who have to take the tests in English even when they have not been in our school for a year."

Carol Kula
High School Teacher
Muscatine Community
Coralville, Iowa

"I am privileged to be an ESL teacher. I work with intelligent, creative, vibrant, and enthusiastic students whose native language is not English. The most dreaded activity for these students is taking the statewide ITEDS, our mandated standardized test. I see our students become apprehensive and anxious. The language learners are fearful of failing and ask if they are required to take the test.

"They want to know if they do not do well on the test, will they still be able to graduate. They ask if colleges look at their test score because they are concerned that a low score will decrease their chances of being accepted. They wonder if studying for the test will help and ask if I know what notes or chapters they can review from class that may help to raise their score. What am I to tell them?

"Despite all of our efforts to reassure them and prepare them, the reality remains that these tests are not fair to our English language learners. They do not adequately or appropriately assess their progress in learning—not only in language, but in grade-level content. The assessment is not an accurate measure of their true achievement. They remain in school and continue their education despite the many academic, cultural, economic, and established societal challenges they face. And what do we do to them? We force them to take a test that they are not ready to take. We make them cry in frustration to comply with a mandate. We ask them to reach a proficient level on a test, when they have not even reached a proficient level in the language necessary to complete the test.

"We lump all students together to take the same test, despite their many differences, and then look at their scores as if they all have the same access to opportunities, resources, and assistance that make all the difference in children's learning. Our students are being hurt—let's help them. Please, let's find another way—one that encourages, not discourages—our English language learners in our great public schools."

Rosemary Jebari
High School Teacher
Framingham
Belmont, Massachusetts

"I am a teacher of high school ESL students. In Massachusetts, recently arrived students from other countries are now required to take the tenth-grade state exit exams (MCAS) in their first year in the United States, without consideration of their English language proficiency. Many of my students have despaired when faced with the exam as early as November, if they entered the school as juniors.

"For some, English-language experience is limited to greetings and elementary commands, and they are asked to sit in a room for five days and answer questions that they can barely read. Most of these students come from countries where exams mean the difference between staying in school or entering the work world.

"My students are facing huge adjustment problems to begin with and challenges far beyond those of the average high school student. The state should not require that they be subjected to the added stress of a high-stakes test that they have no chance of passing."

Ann Marie Borders
Elementary School Teacher
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan

I am writing to share a small part of my experience with you. I am a Kindergarten Teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My morning class this year included 13 bilingual and non- English-speaking children from eight different Asian and European countries.

"I returned to teaching kindergarten two years ago after having taught first grade for nine years. What I've found is that my curriculum now includes many of the same goals that I was responsible for teaching to first graders 10 years ago. While I see an improved expectation for all children, I am afraid for the children who are not ready to read and write at this time.

"I see children who must first learn the English vocabulary before they can read in English. I see children who have special needs (speech and language, developmentally disabled, or autistic impairments ) that prevent them from completely understanding the curriculum. I see parents of five-year-olds crying because they feel their children are failing before they've even had a chance to begin learning. I can't even imagine the thoughts and feeling of these children.

"What happens five years from now when we begin to see these children burn out? What happens to the joy, the love of exploration, and the love of learning that comes naturally to a young child? Yes, I think we need to raise our standards and expectations, but we must also remember that one size does not fit all children!"

Bettina Heller
ESL Teacher
Plainfield
Monmouth Junction, New Jersey

"This year the state of New Jersey required all English language learners to take the access test, to determine language proficiency in English in listening, reading, writing, and speaking. I spent over one-and-a-half months testing my kindergarten and first grade students, rather than teach these most needy children in English.

"Testing such young children is an affront to their education and must be addressed."

Leona Burdett,
ESOL Teacher
Salem Keizer
Albany, Oregon

"I teach newly arrived English language learners who are being tested after one year here and who are still not able to fully understand English. This causes them much unnecessary stress. Stop this unreasonable practice. Studies prove that they are not going to be proficient in English for three to seven years. Be fair."

Jayne Cutter,
ESL Teacher
City of Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania

"As a teacher and a parent, I have several issues with NCLB. I currently teach ESL. Research shows that it takes seven to nine years for a student literate in their first, non-English language to become proficient in English, yet these same students are expected to become proficient in English after one year of ESL education.

"Let's put some of these legislators for one year in a country in which English is not spoken, give them a language proficiency test, and see if they can pass it at a high-school level.

"In Pennsylvania, we are also required to give the Stanford English Language Proficiency test. It is my observation that this would suffice to mark a student's progress until they reach the intermediate level, and only then would they have a fighting chance to become proficient according to the PSSA, the Pennsylvania state test. A little common sense would go a long way.

"Also my only child is a special needs student. He realizes that he is not learning as well as his peers, so let's just reinforce this by making him take tests that regular students are struggling with. I truly wish that we were producing widgets, but we are not. Not all students are created equal, and as long as we can show progress for those with a learning problem, with language-related learning difficulties, or for those who lack some education because they are immigrants, NCLB does not make sense.

"Also, where is the technology? I would love to have several computers with Internet service in my classroom (my school is located in a neighborhood that is socioeconomically disadvantaged). How can we expect those who do not have the same advantages to do as well without a little help? Again, where is the common sense?"

NCLB Stories: Why We Need a Comprehensive Curriculum

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Why...

We need to provide all students with a comprehensive curriculum that includes social studies, foreign languages, the arts, music, and more -- rather than focusing narrowly on preparing students for standardized tests in reading and math.

Ina Allen
Music Teacher
Evanston Dist #65
Chicago, Illinois

"In my school, the staff is so worried about closing the achievement gap for the students, it is becoming the norm to have academic after school groups. On rotating days, the students stay for one-and-a-half hours to review and learn math and reading skills. The idea looks good on paper, but it has cut into our arts programs, limiting the music, art, and drama groups to only a few students. For chorus or band, this is not a good thing.

"It seems to the children who are in the after school math and reading groups that they will never measure up to the other students who are in the chorus. The performing groups have become the elite bunch in the school.

"For many of the slower achievers, the arts are what keep them interested in coming to school. It may be just the motivation they need to stay in school and succeed in other areas. We had a student who was labeled as 'troubled' from his elementary school, and he was placed in the school chorus his first year in the middle school. His behavior changed both in school and at home. His mother got more involved in his academic education, and the student went on to the high school and was very popular and successful.

"With NCLB, pulling students from arts classes should not be a remedy for making sure all students learn together. The problem with NCLB is that all children do not achieve at the same time. They are not all on the same page when it comes to learning. All students will learn what they need to become successful, but they will do it at their own pace. NCLB must make sure all students start at the same level in order to achieve what needs to be done. We must all make sure the resources are in place for the development of the whole child. To lose any of our classes just to ensure that one program works the way the government wants it to is not an option.

"Leave the education to the ones who are in the trenches and work every day with the students who need them. We do know what we are doing, and we can help all students become smart, successful, productive citizens for the future."

Mark Lichtenberg
Instrumental Music Teacher
Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation
Evansville, Indiana

"As a music educator, I am used to advocating for my program when budgets are trimmed or staff is cut. But since the reauthorization of ESEA, the targeting of arts programs has been redoubled. NCLB's primary focus on math and reading has led to arts programs nationwide becoming less and less important or being completely removed from the curriculum. Three years ago, we lost our elementary instrumental music program program and 9 of 23 instrumental music teachers in the EVSC. I am constantly told that standards for core subjects are more important than my own and that I have to incorporate them into my already fully developed curriculum.

"Meanwhile, research showing the positive effects of the arts on student achievement continues to pile up. While it is a proven fact that students who participate in the arts perform better in other subject areas, schools are cutting their programs in an effort to meet the testing demands of ESEA. It's time to change the law so that the full needs of all children are met!"

Lynn Corum
Education Major
Leavenworth
Lansing, Kansas

"Working in an elementary school this spring, I learned what happened to one school under NCLB. Under improvement status for two years, the school's reading and mathematics scores had improved considerably, but at a price. They have doubled the time spent on reading and mathematics instruction. To make this happen, however, the only science and social studies instruction that this school conducts takes place after the normal school day has concluded.

"When I was there, they had neither a teacher who was prepared to teach the additional one-and-a-half hours each day, nor the signatures from parents that would extend their children's school day by that long.

"As part of a lesson I had planned, I attempted to use a globe with my class to discuss weather. They did not know anything about the globe, the continents, weather, or climate (first graders, in April!), all material from the first unit of their first-grade social studies textbooks. Their teacher is very capable, and the students were doing well in their studies. They simply have not had any social studies or science instruction.

"I hear from other teachers that this situation is repeated in countless urban elementary schools. The national social studies standards are excellent, as are the science standards. Teachers in many schools are being restricted, however, to the material that is assessed on the high-stakes tests. These schools have a considerable number of recent immigrants in their student body (and a neighboring school district has well over 60 foreign languages to deal with among its ELL student population). Do we really want to eliminate any coverage of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and other important parts of U.S. history?

Melissa Dirks
Art Teacher
Frederick County Public Schools
Hagerstown, Maryland

"Because ESEA testing focuses solely on reading, math, and now science , all available time and money is spent on only these subjects. All other areas, especially the creative arts, are being cut and ignored. Students are not being given opportunities to have a well-rounded education. Employers require employees who can think outside the box. We are not preparing students for the 21st century job market. We are now only preparing our kids to pass the test, so the school doesn't lose funding.

"Because the AYP requirements are so slanted, my school was labeled a failing school. It was not because the school's population didn't pass the tests; we did, but one subgroup didn't pass one year, and a different subgroup didn't pass the next year. Both of those subgroups had fewer than 20 students in them. Our school was not failing; in reality, it was fewer than 20 students who caused the whole school to be labeled failing.

"It is this environment that fosters the belief that we only have time to teach the three subjects that will be tested on ESEA. Our students deserve better than that. Our students deserve a balanced, well-rounded, complete education. Please work with Nebraska to see this happens in the reauthorization of ESEA."

Paul EveryHope
High School Teacher
Mount Vernon
Bellingham, WA

"In our district, 70 percent of our elementary school instructional time is devoted to math and reading. This leaves only 30 percent for everything else. We are cutting back on PE, art, library time, music, social studies, and more.

The current ESEA language is taking the joy out of school for our kids and making it into a reading/math-only environment."

Cindy Lou Aillaud
Elementary School Physical Education Teacher
Delta/Greely
Delta Junction, Alaska

"As an elementary school physical educator, I know that physical education is the most important subject in school. A healthy body is key to a healthy mind. Unfortunately, NCLB's unintended consequences are the lack of time and importance placed on physical education in our schools. Our country is already witnessing an increase in childhood illnesses, such as juvenile diabetes and childhood obesity.

"With the emphasis on high-stakes testing in reading, math, writing, and (soon) science, schools have been forced to cut programs that ensure the health of our nation's future to create more time to study for the tests. This is a crime.

"We owe our children a healthy future. We owe our great country a healthy future. Please revise NCLB to accomplish this. Thank you."

Sally Pestana
Professor
Kapiolani Community College
Honolulu, HI

"As a college educator, I have been watching and listening with great concern as I hear K-12 educators talk about the detrimental effects of ESEA. As I hear more and more stories of programs, such as band/orchestra/choir, speech/debate, art, PE, photography, and foreign languages being cut to allow more resources and time for teaching to standardized tests, I have been dreading the day, down the road, when those students will enter my classroom at the college level.

I know that such programs contribute greatly to critical-thinking skills, collaborative-working skills, goal-setting skills, and other essential skills that students need to be successful at the college level.

"Much to my surprise and horror, that day has come much sooner than I anticipated. A colleague recently shared that this is the first year in over 20 years of teaching that not one student in her large lecture section had taken a foreign language in high school.

"Where will our country be in 15 years, as the first complete NCLB generation fills all of our college classrooms?"

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NCLB Stories: Wayne Ward, Texas

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NCLB Stories South Carolina

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NCLB Stories Janet Agnew, South Carolina

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NCLB Stories: Susan Strada, Pennsylvania

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NCLB Stories: Jim Sando, Pennsylvania

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NCLB Stories: Anne Loeffler, Pennsylvania

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NCLB Stories: Kristie Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania

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NCLB Stories: Richard Erickson, Pennsylvania

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NCLB Stories: Jean Eller, Pennsylvania

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