Comments on: NCLB= more high school dropouts http://sciteacher.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/nclb-more-high-school-dropouts/ Another excellent Edublogs.org weblog Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:57:17 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: sciteacher http://sciteacher.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/nclb-more-high-school-dropouts/comment-page-1/#comment-6 sciteacher Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:29:52 +0000 http://sciteacher.edublogs.org/?p=13#comment-6 I agree with your last statement, but sometimes I wonder if NCLB means slow down to make sure that no child is left behind, exacerbating the problem and therefore creating more barely literate students that pass high school. I thought I read somewhere that some states, including mine, have rewritten tests and made then "easier." I do not know what the answer is, but from what I see things are not working now and need to change. I agree with your last statement, but sometimes I wonder if NCLB means slow down to make sure that no child is left behind, exacerbating the problem and therefore creating more barely literate students that pass high school. I thought I read somewhere that some states, including mine, have rewritten tests and made then “easier.” I do not know what the answer is, but from what I see things are not working now and need to change.

]]> By: Bruce http://sciteacher.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/nclb-more-high-school-dropouts/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Bruce Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:26:04 +0000 http://sciteacher.edublogs.org/?p=13#comment-5 If you read the original study (http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v16n3/v16n3.pdf) you can see first the study was not based on NCLB but on the Texas state system developed before NCLB; the TX system was considered a "model" for NCLB, but the systems are considerably different. And those differences are magnified once NCLB rules are adapted into different state educational systems. Second, the only diffinitive conclusion of the study was that large numbers of students drop out and minorities (excluding Asians) drop out more than whites. That's hardly surprising and has been known to be true for decades. The article makes further less-than-shocking statements, such as: "Fine (2005) finds that suburban students in Advanced Placement courses are offered a broad curriculum, whereas the minority students in New York City are offered a narrow, test-prep curriculum under the increased emphasis on high-stakes testing at each grade level." Wow, suburban students in AP classes are taking a broader curriculum than urban minority students! What about NY students taking AP classes? What about minority students in the suburbs not taking AP classes? This is an apples and pears (sububs and AP students) to oranges and bananas (urban and minority) comparison. No Child Left Behind does not require any testing to be used as a graduation requirement. If a state uses a standardized test as a graduation requirement, that is a decision of the state and not a result of NCLB. (source: http://answers.ed.gov) In addition, NCLB has a provision that graduation rates must be considered in AYP specifically so that schools do not try to boost test score averages by pushing out the lowest-performing students. (source: http://www.urban.org/publications/310873.html) I'm not a huge fan of NCLB. But, I'm also not a huge fan of the old days when barely literate (if literate) students often graduated high school with 3.0 GPAs. If you read the original study (http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v16n3/v16n3.pdf) you can see first the study was not based on NCLB but on the Texas state system developed before NCLB; the TX system was considered a “model” for NCLB, but the systems are considerably different. And those differences are magnified once NCLB rules are adapted into different state educational systems. Second, the only diffinitive conclusion of the study was that large numbers of students drop out and minorities (excluding Asians) drop out more than whites. That’s hardly surprising and has been known to be true for decades.

The article makes further less-than-shocking statements, such as: “Fine (2005) finds that suburban students in Advanced Placement courses are offered a broad curriculum, whereas the minority students in New York City are offered a narrow, test-prep curriculum under the increased emphasis on high-stakes testing at each grade level.” Wow, suburban students in AP classes are taking a broader curriculum than urban minority students! What about NY students taking AP classes? What about minority students in the suburbs not taking AP classes? This is an apples and pears (sububs and AP students) to oranges and bananas (urban and minority) comparison.

No Child Left Behind does not require any testing to be used as a graduation requirement. If a state uses a standardized test as a graduation requirement, that is a decision of the state and not a result of NCLB. (source: http://answers.ed.gov)

In addition, NCLB has a provision that graduation rates must be considered in AYP specifically so that schools do not try to boost test score averages by pushing out the lowest-performing students. (source: http://www.urban.org/publications/310873.html)

I’m not a huge fan of NCLB. But, I’m also not a huge fan of the old days when barely literate (if literate) students often graduated high school with 3.0 GPAs.

]]>