This month, President Bush declared that he would make renewing NCLB a priority, even as he acknowledged that the law isn’t working as hoped for families (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501109.html )
NCLB, signed into law in 2002, requires schools that get federal poverty aid and fall short of their yearly progress goals for two straight years to offer transfers for students to other schools, including private schools. . After three years of failure, schools must offer low-income parents a choice of tutors. (You can read more about the No Child Left Behind act at
http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml )
NCLB is scheduled for reauthorization by Congress next year, but some have speculated it may be bumped until after the next presidential election. Among the improvements Bush has recommended: expanding testing in high schools and paying for 28,000 low income students across the country to transfer to private schools.
What are your thoughts?
Is NCLB working?
What are some considerations that should be taken into account when considering reauthorization of NCLB?
What are the alternatives?
Do we need a national mandate for good education? What about the millions of private and home educated students who succeed without such a mandate? What about education prior to NCLB?
What can we learn from other global models, like Scandinavia and Belgium?
If you decide to share your group discussion experience with us (and we hope you do!), please reply within this thread with “NCLB Saga” in the subject line. Tell us where you live, about the group you discussed the topic with, and how you felt about the experience, along with your responses to the talking points above, or whatever thoughts occurred as a result of your discussion with others.
The point of these Education Conversation starters is to engage in some thoughtful and reasoned discussion about education, teaching and learning, something more far-reaching than knee jerk opinions or "gut" responses that may not fully give the due consideration that the many issues and topics facing us truly deserve.
We'll look forward to hearing back from you with your thoughts on this or any of our other SGD topics.
Thanks!
Theresa Willingham
Learning is for Everyone, Inc.
www.learningis4everyone.org
