False Claims: Advocating for Reform

In the Education Week article, “Bush Claims About NCLB Questioned,” another look is taken at judging the effectiveness of the law. In New Albany, President Bush spoke to his audience about the successes of his self-boasted greatest policy imitative to date, No Child Left Behind. However, as we see each day in our classroom and at an even larger level in Baltimore City, data can be obstructed to make any child or school system look like they are making gains.

Bush and his supporters claim that student achievement is increasing due to the law. With no substantial evidence supported by any accredited research or institution, it is hard to believe that this boast is still being made. As the date approaches for the renewal of NCLB, one has to question why our lawmakers are not asking for more supporting or damning evidence. When the leading educational institutions, such as Harvard’s Department of Education, speak out on the lack of evidence to support NCLB, is there any hope that our schools will not be under the supervision of NCLB in the near future? Probably not.

With any full-scale reform effort, we have learned that we are still in the trial period and have not fully seen this reform through. However, we also know that it is impossible to have a successful reform without full participation. So, if several teachers are not being certified to become “highly qualified” across the country since they or the administrations are not invested in NCLB, then how will this reform ever get to the next stage. Answer: teach to the test. A teacher needs limited content knowledge to teach test taking skills.

As other opponents of NCLB have indicated, the law is actually changing the way we are educating America’s youth, not to increase critical thinking, but to answer multiple-choice questions. In the long run, I would not be shocked to see studies determining a decrease in reading proficiency, despite the billion dollar program, Reading First, while the policy makers are boasting an increase in student achievement.