Hey everyone, today was a pretty big day in the world of education. While in many cases, it didn't make the top story on the local news in Minnesota, the news was most certainly top story newsworthy. Today, our President Of The United States put an end to the very dysfunctional No Child Left Behind Act that was passed back in 2001.
Many that are not in the education field may not feel like celebrating this change, but those who are educators and parents of students, should be celebrating. You see, lately I have been attending a number of trainings for my new job. My career change will be a focus in the future. The constant message in all of these trainings I have been to recently was two things. Connectivity and Relationships. The idiotic idea of expecting every single child to accomplish the same tasks at the same rate is mind blowing. This is not the way to accomplish educational improvement and it certainly took the enjoyment out of education for the students.
The No Child Left Behind Act that President George W. Bush thought was a foolproof plan, took every ounce of individuality out of education. It really was a disrespect to the services of Special Education and also to even acknowledging that there are different learning styles that exist. Our President at that time thought everyone should be able to listen to a lecture, take a test, and recall the facts to show that our students can remember facts. In the meantime, the life skills that were so vital to education were placed on the back burner almost instantly due to the fact that if the students didn't remember those facts, then the teacher was on the chopping block because those test scores were not acceptable. What a lot stress for the teachers, and even more stress for the students. Many of those life skills programs such as physical education, music and arts, and many more electives were eliminated to put the focus on those core subjects that those famous tests featured so our students could be champions in the game of Memory.
I have worked with many types of students in the past 10 years. I have seen advanced students who are in high school that are reading at or above a college level, and I have seen even more students who were severely behind due to a number of circumstances. I worked with a home school student who entered a public school for the first time in 9th grade and was reading at a first grade level. I have also seen students who suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries due to severe abuse by people who were supposed to love and support them. I have even worked with students who were screwed from the get go by being exposed to harmful illegal drugs, like heroin and meth, when they were still in the womb. But by all means, lets expect everyone to be machines and perform at the same ability level and at the same pace. This is foolish and a bigger recipe for disaster.
I really hope with the elimination of the No Child Left Behind Act that the focus returns to connecting with students and building those relationships. It should be almost guaranteed that the amount of instruction time should increase simply because of the time eliminated on all these exams that focus on recalling facts. Memorizing, not learning.
It has been very apparent throughout the years that the all important value known as respect has vanished in this process of putting the focus on taking tests instead of connecting with students. Respect amongst teachers and students has taken a licking badly, as proven in St. Paul, Minnesota this week, where there have been 28 student assaults on teachers in Ramsey County in the first 14 weeks of this academic school year. This is alarming and I am glad to see the St. Paul School faculty taking a stand for higher measures of security and safety. Safety should always be the number one priority, not money, and not memorizing facts and recalling them on a test.
In closing, I don't know what the future holds for the education system now that the No Child Left Behind Act has finally been put out of its misery. I hope the opportunity is taken to reinstall the life skills back into education along with the already existent core subjects. I think if we educate with the mindset that there are different learning styles, different ability levels, the need to respect the Individual Education Plans, and get back to recognizing individuals and educating them that way, then I think we will see even better and more successful results. I think the students will start enjoying education again and stopping stressing that they have to pass this, that, and every single damn test that is thrown at them from grades 3 to 12 just to get a diploma no matter what their GPA is. If done right, the focus could be helping a student become a well-rounded educated adult that is able to function, contribute, and succeed as a productive member of our society.
I know that choices are the responsibility of the people that make them, and I am a strong advocate for appropriate accountability, and that will never go away and nor should it. However, it may be possible that the elimination of this act, that didn't get the attention it should have today, may end up being a key step in starting to eliminate the violence in schools. Don't get me wrong, there are many other pieces that need to be put into place to address the violence happening in schools, but I would go out on a limb to suggest that lowering the student and teacher stress by reducing the number of these stupid ass exams, is a good first step.
#ripnochildleftbehindact
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