Crossovers and Duncan

So it appears that No Child Left Behind has left many behind, and a large percentage of schools continue to fail to meet increasingly unrealistic benchmarks. The goal of ALL children in various subgroups attaining proficiency in reading and math by 2014 was doomed from the start, and no clever jargon can escape the detriment a politician (or aspiring politician) will face if he or she had to claim the before mentioned goal unattainable.

NOT TO FEAR: ARNE DUNCAN IS HERE

Education Secretary Arne Duncan plans to develop a systematic approach to helping out (bailing out?) states that are making substantial strides to improving its schools. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a bill often scrutinized for its punitive measures, and Duncan’s approach to helping out states is to remove or ease off some of those measures. Entrenched in a program where the stick is the norm, I suppose removing it feels like gaining a carrot.

A state like Maryland can demonstrate that its schools are improving by improving in ways that align with the Obama Administration’s education goals. This includes the adoption of the common core, encouraging charter schools, and overhauling teacher evaluations. With Maryland winning Race To The Top dollars and Baltimore City accepting those dollars in exchange for national standards, charter encouragement, and teacher evaluation overhauls, it appears that we are in for some major school and district reforms.

In this volatile time, it’s important for district and school leaders to navigate educational maps and mirrors to develop and implement curricula that result in true impact for our students. I’m not saying that the common core, charter schools, and teacher evaluation overhauls are negative, but I am saying that they can be if they are hurriedly adopted to avoid sticks as we salivate for carrots. Be careful current and future district and school leaders. Our students depend on you.

Of course, this all hinges on whether or not Congress rewrites NCLB by the start of next school year. If they fail to do so, it looks like Duncan and the Obama Administration has its stop-gap measure (almost) ready and waiting.