What’s Up With No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind.
It’s a misnomer if you ask me. In my six years of teaching experience, I don’t think it’s being utilized in the intended manor. Again, the name maybe?
It seems the intention was that no child be left behind his peers in school. Meaning, that if a child is falling behind, he or she would get extra help; tutoring, one on one time with a teacher or para-pro, modified instruction, different ways of testing, etc.
But, the problem? And, yes it is a problem.
No Child Left Behind is completely misunderstood and utilized. It is seen as children aren’t allowed to be left behind in a grade level or a class, so they are pushed ahead. Despite their lack of understanding and learning. Despite them not learning the standards that is required of them. Despite them not passing classes, courses of even state tests (and don’t get me started on state tests versus nationalized tests and standards). And, this isn’t just at certain levels. It spans from kindergarten all the way to high school. Yes, even high school when these kids are about to go to college.
And, here’s where I’m going to say it, and it might make you mad, but it’s true. Statistically speaking, 100% of pretty much anything is impossible. So, what does that mean to me? Not every single kid is going to pass every single test/standard/grade on the first shot. There are kids that need a second shot. There are kids that should be “left behind” (in the wrong sense of this “No Child Left Behind.”) Kids that need a second shot at a class. Another year of maturing.
Instead of pushing these kids ahead, we’ve got to figure out why they are having issues. Let’s really sit down with them, with their parents, with all of their teachers and counselors and psychologists and get to the bottom of it. All kids can learn, but they learn in different ways and we have to remember this.
Case in point. A friend posted this on her facebook wall. I know it’s long, but I think it really solidifies my argument.:
“I just got back from another meeting at A’s school. They have tested and observed him for over a month. The results are that he is dyslexic & possibly ADD. Y’all have no idea how relieved I am right now. At least now we know whats going on & ever since pre-K, school has been such a battle. Now I know WHY!!!
“Ever since he started Pre-K school has been a struggle! He never wanted to go, he was always in a bad mood, total lack of self confidence. Learning his letters was a major struggle. I talked to his pre-k teacher about holding him back since he was one of the younger kids and didn’t have to start Kindergarten the next year. She said not to worry that he’d catch up.
“Same thing happened in Kindergarten. Writing was a struggle, sight words, spelling, everything was a huge fight. He was failing at them. AGAIN I suggested maybe he wasnt ready, maybe hold him back? AGAIN I get the ‘he’ll catch up next year’ speech.
“On to 1st grade. The kid was miserable. Constantly in trouble for not paying attention, drawling all the time, hardly doing his work, failing spelling test after spelling test. The teacher would nag at me implying that I wasnt making him read at home etc. Self confidence at this point was at a 0. I tell her if we’re going to hold him back. Let’s do it now since we are moving states and everything. I get the same run around.
“This time, I talked to his new 2nd grade teacher on the 1st day of school, scheduled a meeting and addressed all my concerns. The first few weeks he was treated like all other students. Expected to read and follow the directions on the worksheets. He was already failing. He would just give up and doodle on his pages b/c he couldn’t connect what the words were to what he should do.
“The teacher started giving him his spelling tests verbally and BAM! He was getting 100%’s every time. You ask him something, he knows it! You tell him to transfer those thoughts onto paper, you’ve lost him.
“All along I KNEW something was up, but no one would help me. Now I can completely understand why he would behave the way he did. He was depressed. A 5 yr old depressed. How sad is that?! it also would cause him to act out. Ever since we moved him to this school, he’s happy, really happy. When he does get into trouble at school now, he is genuinely remorseful.”
Hallelujah! A teacher that gets it. But, how sad it is that it took until 2nd grade for a child to get the help he needs, the diagnosis he needs and to feel confident in himself? I really truly believe issues like this are coming up more and more because teacher and administrators are misinterpreting “No Child Left Behind.” They are afraid of losing their jobs. They are afraid of their “failure rates.” They are afraid of how a school will look.
But, what’s really the bottom line? The success of our kids. They are the ones that matter. They are our future. We have to remember them. We have to invest in them. We have to nurture them and their learning.
I am so glad you wrote about this. This is such a huge issue that is all to often overlooked.
Not every child learns the same way, but every child has the ability to be brilliant if given the opportunity.
Amen…Amen. The comments brought up so many more issues for me. I’ve got to work on a part 2.
I whole heartedly agree! There is no blanket solution to education because every child’s education and school experience are different and need to be treated as such. It’s not easy but it’s the truth. I hope we as a country and as parents and teachers and students can figure out a better solution than this.
It sure would be nice if we could. Every student and child (or even adult) is the same!
I’m glad A got the help he needs.
I wish we could find a teacher like that for 15 y/o K. She has almost failed every single grade since 6th. And in 8th grade, when she had an F 2 weeks before school let out, a conference with the counselor and teacher, her parents hinted at her failing and repeating 8th grade and they said no, they’d push her to high school. It’s infuriating because she failed for a refusal to do homework. And she got sent on her way to high school, to repeat the same habits. And not a single teacher has said, “I wonder why K is having so much trouble?” She’s a smart kid. She knows her stuff. But she has a hard time paying attention (sorry … but drugs don’t solve ADD problems – as much as her mom says it does), she doesn’t get her questions answered, then she comes home and I have to teach it to her again. Or it takes her 5 hours to do one hour’s worth of history homework. I don’t believe she’s dyslexic, but I believe that the No Child Left Behind act has ruined her teachers’ ability to teach HER.
And her older brother? He’s a senior in HS. He, too, has failed almost every grade thus far. He’s had to do summer school or night school or independent study every year. He is on the verge of not graduating. A conversation with his counselor revealed that they don’t allow 5th year seniors and if he didn’t graduate, he’d just not have a HS diploma. He could later get his GED if he wanted, but never a true HS diploma. What’s wrong with that!?!?!?!?
They spend 2 months of the school year teaching to a standardized test. Then they have to play catch up and finish all the text books, but go through it so fast that they don’t actually learn anything. But these STAR tests, man they’re good for something. They give the school a bunch of money every year so they can rebuild the entire campus. But we don’t care if our kids are failing.
That just breaks my heart! I can’t even imagine trying to help him. I’ve seen the 5th years treated very poorly, too. But, here’s the problem, they shouldn’t have gotten to the 5th year senior place. They should have been held back until they could prove that they’ve learned everything and received the services they need.
I couldn’t agree more…very well said. I’m so glad that A is getting the help he needs. We need more teachers like his 2nd grade Teacher!
To be honest I was a little surprised with the view you are coming from…but I guess it is different at every school. MY issue with No Child Left Behind is almost the exact opposite. My child does not struggle and is considered “gifted” however due to No Child Left Behind the kids who are struggling get the extra resources and support while my child is left bored in class. I feel that HE is the one actually left behind.
That is disappointing. I think it’s because I didn’t have any experiences with “gifted” children at the high school level. Many of them went to magnet schools or other schools.
That would also be incredibly frustrating, and I would be fighting for him to get the services he deserves, too. A student shouldn’t be bored in school.
Excellent post. IT burns me up that kids are allowed to retake tests over and over until they pass in some systems. For older kids in high school what motivation do they have to study and get it right the first time? If you fail you can do it again and again and again. The system is broken and in dire need of repair.
Oh, this is another point I really didn’t even bring up! It’s maddening. Did you know in Georgia that students have FIVE chances to pass each of their graduation tests? FIVE! That’s insane to me.
And, if you fail a test the first time, you only have like a 5% chance (statistically) that you will pass it on subsequent attempts. It’s flawed and broken.
Numbers and percentages are not the same as MEASUREMENT. This is where No Child Left Behind fails.
So very true. It’s sad that the people making the laws/rules haven’t ever been in a classroom, nor do they understand anything about math/statistics, etc.
I have so much I want to add to his, but since I would go on and on I will leave it at this: I was a special education teacher for 5 1/2 years. I observed too many occasions where kiddos needed help, to be held back, not mature enough to go but they were for fear of being sued. I feel I had the skills to be a good teacher but wasn’t allowed to be. I quit and plan to NEVER go back to public education. It’s so sad and screwed up. Glad the kiddo you posted about got help before high school.
I know…I know.
Amen! Having raised 4 kids, mostly through public school, but also through 8 years of homeschooling, I can see there are so many issues with pushing children ahead when they are not ready. Even if a child can “catch up”, what will happen to his self-esteem in the meantime? Children who are frustrated and confused tend to act out. And then they are labeled as problem children when all they need is someone to possibly verbally do their spelling words.
My 2nd daughter, whose IQ was almost genius, felt stupid in 5th grade because she couldn’t get thoughts from her brain to the paper. Thankfully she had a teacher who allowed me to verbally ask the questions after she had read the passage, and then allow me to write her answers down. We did decide after 5th grade to pull out and homeschool as we knew this would continue to be a problem.
Great post Krystyn!
Bernice
It’s very sad. You can’t put kids in a box and expect the same results from all of them.
My 5yo learns in his own way right now. He’s nowhere near the level of his peers right now, and he’s been going through evaluations to see just where the problem lies and what we can do to make it better. But I know it’s there. I know he’ll get there. And I’m thankful that his teachers and school have been on top of it and fighting for a solution from his first day.
So awesome that his school is being so proactive and staying on top of things. You are very lucky.
This is exactly the truth….and what my A deals with every year. The teachers give him an unearned score and actually told me don’t worry he will pass….I don’t want that…I want to learn what he is suppose to know…that’s the point of going to school in the first place to learn….if he is given a passing grade when he earned 25% on a test what does that do for him? NOTHING! And when he is promoted to the next grade he is totally lost thus causing behavior problems hating school and the worst being called a retard by his peers because he was left behind by the ppeople that are suppose to have his best interest and because of their lack of ability to teach my child now they want to lable him as having all these different learning disabilities in order so they don’t have to teach him….I feel like teachers are more than dishonest about the grades they report….
I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. You are 100% correct. Why give a 70% when they earn a 25%? And, then, he’s so far behind and so frustrated that catching up isn’t an option. Then, he gets to 12th grade and can’t pass state required tests and ends up having to repeat that grade. It’s just not right.
From the teacher standpoint, I would teach my heart out and make myself available, offer extra services, etc, and I will say this, there are many times that we were told that grades couldn’t stand, retests needed to be given, etc. It’s incredibly frustrating from that standpoint, too, because we know that the disservice is to the kids.
AMEN!
Amen! I couldn’t agree more! I’m currently a third grade teacher, choosing to stay anonymous just-in-case . . . Anyway, I have third graders who can NOT read, spell their own name or add 1+1 without using their fingers. They were promoted because of NCLB and they should not have been. Third grade is when they are first eligible to be held back, THIRD GRADE!!! It’s beyond frustrating as a teacher, and I’m sure even worse as a student and parent. I agree 100%!
Third grade…at that point, they are so far behind. It’s so very unfair to the kids…so very unfair!
And, I completely understand your anonymity.
You sound just like my sister who teaches high school in Connecticut. It gets her so irritated and angry when they get to her and they cannot even read or form simple sentences on paper.
Whoever decided on this law had good intentions, but it is being implimented all wrong. I’m so glad that your friend’s son is finally getting the help he needs.
Yep, good intentions carried out poorly result in nothing good happening.
It’s so very sad!
Well written and very informative! I have never been a fan no child left behind.. but i think had the impression it was more for the teachers than for the benefit of the students!
The intentions were really for the students, not the teachers. But, the way it’s being implemented, it would seem as though it’s for teachers to justify bumping students up when they shouldn’t be.
Every parent hopes for a teacher that can pull the best from their child, no matter the circumstances. I’m glad that it’s worked out, though so unfortunate that it wasn’t until *second* grade.
Isn’t it sad that it took so long? It breaks my heart for him.