Remember when everyone was upset at George Bush for the "No Child Left Behind" initiative? I wonder how many people realized that this Federal initiative was also supported by the late Ted Kennedy? THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News
We heard cries from NEA – No Child Left Behind cemented as failed education legacy of President Bush the NEA?? Remember how they criticized NCLB, but always failed to mention that this had bi-partisan support?
Well now that they have their "guy" in office, you’d think he’d abolish NCLB to correct those dreadful errors from the Bush administration. You’d be wrong. National Journal Online – Duncan: NCLB On Congress’ Agenda This Year
Looks like the Obama administration is poised to reauthorize what they see as a failed policy from the Bush administration. Bad news for the NEA.
The NEA isn’t having such a good year with the Obama folks in the White House. After revealing the goals on a new education funding scheme (Race to the Top…aka…RttT), the Feds will be tying some of the Federal Ed. dollars to teacher performance. NEA Slams Obama’s $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" initiative | ALA Connect While some may see this as a good idea, I happen to think the NEA is right on this one.
There are many problems in public education, however there are two that are some of the biggest concerns that need reformed. Unfortunately I don’t see how RttT will alleviate these problems.
The first problem that needs to be addressed is, the lack of quality teacher training in the Schools of Education. Race To The Top And K-12 Mathematics Education « Math Wizards Some of our top mathematicians in the country sent a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan highlighting this problem in education. They want the Federal funds to go towards educating the teacher in math content. Some might be surprised by this suggestion. The reality is that our Schools of Education have done a miserable job of preparing our teachers in academic content.
Look at the courses required for students in the Schools of Education. Many of the classes they are required to take are in pedagogy. There is little emphasis on content. Colleges of Education focus too much on how to teach and not enough on the subject matter « Math Wizards
Compare this to the training teachers receive in the Schools of Ed in top performing countries where the focus is on academic content. Baltimore Curriculum Project
There’s another problem in education that is not being addressed by the RttT funds and that’s textbooks/curriculum that lack good academic content. So many of our textbooks and curriculum have serious gaps in knowledge. EveryDay Math « Math Wizards
Often times teachers are required to use the chosen textbooks giving the teachers little freedom to stray from the assigned curriculum. Focus on Curriculum, Not Merit Pay, Charters, etc « Math Wizards
So tying Federal funds to students passing a test seems like we are missing a real opportunity to fix what’s broken. But then again when has any govt. program fixed what’s broken?
