Snipped from DCExaminer.com.

I was left behind in elementary school, repeated the 2nd grade, years ago before there was any NCLB federal program/law. I remember not liking this then, felt embarrassed about it, but you know, I think it did me good. I graduated as the Valedictorian of my h.s. class, and went on to college.

Back on March 12th, 2007, Unum wrote an excellent posting for b4b called — you might have guess it — “No Child Left Behind: Is It Doing Any Good?” with 17 of your comments.

Erica Jacobs is a columnist for the D.C. Examiner. She teaches at George Mason University and she wrote an excellent article titled “Leaving Behind NCLB, not children” that I want to bring to your attention.

“Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has stated that parts of the NCLB Act will be changed or refined during the coming years, but her admission comes as an anticlimax. No one is happy with the absolute goals of NCLB as they stand, because no one wants to be held to a 100% standard.

“But how will we change NCLB? The first change should be one of philosophy: absolutes guarantee failure. Sometimes schools are good even if one subgoal has not been met. Sometimes students improve in reading or writing even though their scores don’t reflect that improvement–it depends on what’s being tested. And sometimes punishment is not the best way to effect change if a school does not meet the goals for a particular year.

“I have seen the effect school labeling has on teachers who work there: in Florida, where schools are graded A through F, those who work in “F” schools express their bitterness freely. And to add to the insult, funds for books and other materials are curtailed at low performing schools.

“Teachers have to sell any federal program designed to help students learn, and that program has to sell itself to those teachers. Threats don’t work with teachers any more than they work with students.”

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