POOR CHILD LEFT BEHIND:
No Child Left Behind (what I call "Poor Child Left Behind" to correct the Orwellian title of the act) is a death sentence for public schools in the USA. Not only does PCLB place incredible pressures on students to perform well on corporate-designed standardized tests, but it also requires that teachers pay hundreds of dollars to take tests themselves in order to prove that they are "highly qualified." As a teacher transferring my credential from Washington to California, I discovered that in both states now, a new teacher must take a series of tests to "prove" their worth. Notice these various testing information Web sites that I found linked from the individual state education boards and the colleges and universities that train teachers in those states. But where are these sites hosted? All on the NES (National Evaluation Systems) corporation's Web site. Can you see much difference bewteen each "state's" teacher qualifying test? Each Web site seems to capture the spirit of each state, doesn't it? (Here is the dark side of the power of illustration: art on these sites is used for political propaganda, sympathy, and marketing). |
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Arizona |
These are the tests that, in thirteen states, determine whether a teacher is "highly qualified" under NCLB. WHAT IS THE COST OF THESE TESTS? As I studied each of these sites carefully, it began to make me ill, feeling for all of the teachers across the nation who must pass this test. California's CSET for Multiple Subject (elementary school) alone costs $216.00 with advance registration, with an added $70.00 late-registration penalty. In California, I will need to pass three of these hours-long tests just to qualify to teach in my local public elementary school next year: the CSET, the CBEST, and the CLAD. These tests—all manufactured and administrated by NES—cost a total of $494.00 with advance registration and $704.00 if I registered a week prior to each test. Does my state get my money? Of course not. I can register with my credit card, directly with the NES, a for-profit enterprise. Most of these tests have multiple sections, which take hours to complete each, and require many more hours to study for. Aspiring teachers, beware! Our states are selling us to private enterprise. |
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WHO DETERMINES WHAT OUR KIDS NEED TO LEARN: THE CURRICULA? The question I am asking the citizens of the USA now is, "Who mandates what sort of teachers and what curricula the USA delivers?" It looks to me that three responsibilites: that of qualifying teachers, of creating standards for our youth's public educatuon, and for assessing our students' learning, are slipping out of the hands of the teacher, districts, and states, and into the pockets of the big testing corporations. |
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NCLB IS BAD NEWS ACCROSS THE UNITED STATES New Jersey—May 28, 2005 Palm Beach, Florida—May 25, 2005 Oakland, Califorina—May 4, 2005 Bangor, Maine—April 27, 2005 WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? Utah's Solution, "Non Compliance," means the Feds yank over $100 million from state education programs |
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