Federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation has done a lot to change the way Cheryl Tansey puts together her lesson plan. But, she says she’ll have to think twice about whether she wants her congressional representatives to reauthorize the program.
“I kind of look at it as getting the most bang for your buck,” said Tansey.
Still, she has concerns about how schools are evaluated.
That sort of lukewarm acceptance of the program can be found throughout the community when speaking to the politicians who will soon be asked to consider reauthorizing the program and the educators who daily have it to consider.
Tansey teaches reading recovery and is the Title I coordinator at Silver Street Elementary School in New Albany, where President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit Friday. During the visit, the president is expected to remark on the need for Congress to reauthorize the program.
The act essentially seeks to measure and improve accountability for school districts and provide parents more flexibility in deciding which schools their children attend. It measures a school’s progress based on various student subgroups.
There are some positive parts of the program, Tansey said during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. The professional development funds, the in-service training and the continual assessment aspects of the program are definite positives. Additionally, she said, it helps a teacher contour the lesson plan to the students’ needs.
But her biggest concern is the way it’s all added up. In general, she said, the bar might be being set too high.
One subgroup — special needs for example — can bring an entire school down because No Child benchmarks are all factored together. It’s something to say that an entire school is failing just because one subgroup is lagging behind, she said.
Change it or chuck it?
Tansey is not alone in her concern about that particular aspect of the program.
Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., said he doesn’t have a problem with holding schools accountable. But he will not vote to reauthorize the program unless some changes are made.
Everyone who has come to him within the education community consistently voices the special needs concern, he said. Counting the special needs children in with a school’s general population unfairly lowers an entire school’s score, he said.
Additionally, the consequences for a school that consistently fails — which Hill describes as a federal takeover — are far too harsh, he said. The federal government should not be permitted to come in and take over, fire staff or close a school’s doors.
Hill voted for the legislation when it was originally passed. He claims that the only reason he voted for it back then was because a piece of legislation that called for smaller-sized high schools — which he authored — was rolled into the bill.
When Hill cast his vote in favor of the program, he was joined by other Indiana lawmakers, such as Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican, and Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat. Lugar is still in favor of it, according to Andy Fisher, his press secretary. There might be a few adjustments that need to be made, Fisher said, but generally Lugar still supports the legislation. Bayh or his staff could not be reached for comment.
Doomed to fail?
Terry Smith, superintendent at West Clark Community Schools Corp., believes the legislation had a sinister purpose when it was created.
“When you hear the catchy title — No Child Left Behind — it sounds like something that no one could be against,” he said. “But the devil is in the details.”
Smith says the legislation was passed on two levels: the surface level of raising accountability and the hidden agenda of giving more vouchers for private schools.
The way it’s currently set up, all school systems will eventually fail, he said. And once that happens vouchers — given to parents to send children to private schools — are going to take over, he said.
People at all levels want to improve education, he said. But they need to be told the truth — something that Smith says hasn’t been done yet with this particular piece of legislation.
Like Hill, Smith said the legislation needs to be changed to an improvement model rather than having schools pass the test or else.
Clark County
March 1, 2007
Will ‘No Child’ act get left behind?
Many want program changed, not just re-upped
-
-
Jeffersonville’s emergency coordinator departs city
She applied for the job in December, a few weeks after Mayor Mike Moore was elected. She decided to do so after initially hearing that Moore would be eliminating her position. He ended up keeping Christian, but Louisville came calling anyway.
Continued ... - News and Tribune briefs for Feb. 13, 2012
-
CAPITOL CROSSROADS: Candidates struggle with Indiana ballot hurdles
Gov. Kathy Davis had her signature invalidated because she listed her address at “9th” street but Marion County’s rolls had her at “09th” street.
Continued ... -
Underwood man found dead in woods
The search resumed later in the day Friday and his body was discovered about 6 p.m. in a wooded area less than half a mile from his family’s 70-acre farm, said Maj. Chuck Adams of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Continued ... -
Military vehicles leave Clarksville police station
-
Jeffersonville law department still being negotiated
The combined salaries of the two attorneys and a paralegal add up to $221,900, which Harmon called a savings compared to the $239,373 the city has paid in legal bills on average during the last two years.
Continued ... - Feb 11, 2012
-
Most area graduation rates above state average
According to a release from IDOE, Indiana’s state graduation rate came in at 85.7 percent. About 45 percent of high schools met or exceeded the 90 percent mark and 83 percent graduated 80 percent of their seniors or more.
Continued ... -
YOU GOTTA MOVE: Parkwood participates in Greater Clark health push
- Feb 10, 2012
- NEWS AND TRIBUNE BRIEFS — Feb. 11-12
- Meth lab numbers increase sharply in 2011
-
Jeffersonville’s emergency coordinator departs city
