No Child Left Behind inflicts curse on public schools [View All]

[LWolf]

http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1065268816154690.xml

A Portland teacher of bilingual education finds the law doesn't recognize his qualifications

10/05/03

JONATHAN STEINHOFF

Last year I was a finalist for Teacher of the Year. Last year the National Geographic Society awarded me a $5,000 grant to help build an outdoor classroom with natural materials. Last year the Portland teachers association and school board asked me to mentor new teachers. Last year I trained a group of Portland teachers in the Tribes process, which nurtures supportive classroom communities.

Last week letters went home to the parents of my students telling them I'm not a "highly qualified" teacher. How can I fall so far in one year? Easy. I've been afflicted with the No Child Left Behind Curse. "No Child Left Behind" is the Bush administration's catchy yet hypocritical name for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that President Bush signed into law.

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We've come under the curse. It's the same one that's afflicted Gulfport Elementary School in St. Petersburg, Fla., and thousands like it. Gov. Jeb Bush says the school did so well academically last year it's due for a state bonus check of about $40,000. But Jeb's brother George says Gulfport performed so poorly parents can pull their children out. Which Bush is right?

This is the curse that forces students who haven't learned to speak and read English as well as students with severe disabilities to take high-stakes standardized tests they can't possibly pass. Those scores are then used to judge school performance. This is a curse on our public schools. What else can you call it when arbitrary standards are imposed on schools, curriculum is twisted and distorted into test preparation packages, and "failing schools" are subjected to state takeover and charter status?

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But let's not confuse what's taking place in our public schools as "accountability." No Child Left Behind is a curse on both teachers and students. Jonathan Steinhoff is a third-grade teacher at Atkinson Elementary School in Southeast Portland. He has 14 years of teaching experience in Oregon and Illinois. He says the Oregon Education Association is arguing his case. "In another irony, I can take a test to show I understand (teaching methods)." Steinhoff lives in Northeast Portland with his wife and two children: [e-mail]