Duncan: 'No Child' lowered school standards

soundoff (4 Responses)

1. Daniel
   

   The type of true educational overhaul we need can't be achieved by the government, but reform definitely helps. And this has nothing to do with the abilities of any particular government. There's just no way to achieve the type of granular attention and flexibility needed in locales across the country with education managed at the national level. It takes grass roots efforts and open-minded, eager communities. The first questions we have to ask are what does it mean to be educated and what are the goals of education? The answers to these questions, which may differ based on the needs of individuals or communities, are paramount to determining how we administer education. Sometimes it's our own minds that get in the way. Many people aimlessly say the words, "we need reform," or, "we need change". However, if I told you we need to scrap our grade system all together, most of you would just disregard the idea as radical. What we know about how people learn is that a grade system is completely irrelevant to the educational process. What does a grade level really tell us when we have kids in the 6th grade in some parts of the country who are performing equivalently to kids in the 4th grade in other parts of the country? Along the same token, we have kids in the 6th grade in some parts of the country who are performing equivalently to kids in the 9th grade in other parts of the country. What does the 6th grade even mean? We need an educational system that progresses kids based on true educational development and subject matter and how these serve the their educational goals.

   March 16, 2010 at 7:05 am |
2. Miriam Aguilar
   

   Thanks to CTB McGraw-Hill & other testing company honchos – No Child Left Behind was an EPIC FAIL! These honchos absconded with federally mandated monies to be allocated to states, districts and especially STUDENTS....instead they line their already greedy pockets with OUR tax dollars! No Child Left Behind, Indeed! They get a Big Red F! Start over!

   March 15, 2010 at 4:38 pm |
3. Dave Paulson
   

   Public education in America is in dire need of real reform, not another round of punitive tinkering. Our system was designed to produce factory workers, and since we have very few factories left in the U.S.A., we might want to consider an update designed to fill our real needs. If that new design focuses first on how to make school relevant to the largest number of students, then there might actually be some hope.

   Not every kid is going to go to college, but they are all going to be adults. Let our schools teach them how to read as part of a program that teaches them how to be productive citizens, how to earn a living, how to have a voice in their government. Let them learn math as it applies to their interests: music, mechanics, money and finances — all have the capacity to foster a sense of relevancy for both math and reading.
   Let’s prepare our students to be responsible adults, and while we’re at it, let’s revisit the best means to promote real learning (not test scoring). Let’s apply what we know to be true: parents and teachers are important, but the most important influence on a student’s learning is their peer group. Increasing relevancy for more students is the quick route to a virtuous circle of ascent for all.

   Some students will be small business owners, and others will be mechanics. They will be teachers and politicians and nurses, and they will be carpenters and actors and clerks. Some will be scientists and others engineers, but they won’t all need to be college graduates.

   America needs people to fill a wide variety of occupations, why not do everything we can to match them with their vocation. Academics have driven the objectives for education for far too long. It’s time for our society to step up and demand the reform we need to overhaul public education and serve the real needs of our country.

   March 15, 2010 at 11:58 am |
4. jim vicalvi
   

   Looks like obama and his obamaites were looking for something new to put their footprint on. I just wonder when the annointed one will be getting fitted for his new robes and crown. Maybe he already has!!

   March 15, 2010 at 11:20 am |