Jay Mathews, the education columnist for the Washington Post, discusses the recently released report of The Commission on No Child Left Behind, co-chaired by Tommy G. Thompson and Roy E. Barnes. He approaches it with an ironic tone, saying, “Here comes another helpful report from a five-star, blue-ribbon, highly respected, serious-minded, no-nonsense, ground-breaking, cannot-be-ignored, significant national commission.” (Read the piece for his full commentary).
Mathews wonders why public officials are spending so much time and money making and enforcing new laws about education, instead of focusing on learning how and why the good schools are doing well and supporting their efforts. Ultimately, he suggests a little more bottom-up reform (good teachers doing well and getting their colleagues to get on board) and a little less top-down reform—good schools aren't good because of education reform laws.
I agree with Mathews that the educational system doesn’t really seem to need another report telling us some things we already know and suggesting other things that won’t work. I also agree that the effect of bottom-up reform can be very effective—the Hollywood movie teachers offer a warm and fuzzy view of this, and the KIPP schools that were founded by former TFA teachers provide a more systemic example.
Still, I think that the American political system has to do more than sit on the sidelines and offer reports (or as Mathews would have it, offer fewer reports and follow the lead of the teachers). In my HDLD class, we are reading Jean Anyon’s Radical Possibilities (2005). She demonstrates how socioeconomic status and student achievement are directly related, and urges the federal government to take an active role in improving the financial situations of the impoverished. This, she suggests, will result in increased academic success of the children affected by poverty. In one example of how this would work, Anyon cites a study where working parents were provided with relatively small income supplements (about $4,000 a year). Their children’s elementary school achievement improved by about 10 to 15 percent of the average variation in the control groups (Anyon 68). Anyon indicates that even a small financial improvement in the parents’ situation can create a positive effect in their children’s academic achievement.
I believe that the federal government does have the ability and the reponsbility to make effective change in support of school reform and academic achievement for all students—not through more education laws and reports, but through thoughtful, socially conscious, top-down action, such as raising the minimum wage. This, and other proactive policies that help eliminate
