a torturer of children no more

For the last few years, I've made a living off the No Child Left Behind Act. I've always been careful to not go into the details of my last couple of gigs on this blog-- even though I'm currently settling into a position that is less affected by said law-- because I've signed assorted nondisclosure forms and whatnot. But I can say that I think No Child Left Behind is a crappy law that does not accomplish what it sets out to accomplish-- and I can say this with the perspective of having firsthand knowledge of elementary and middle school educational assessment from several different angles. I've seen the ways in which testing is distancing teachers from their students. And I've seen the ways in which testing is distancing students from the ability to think autonomously-- i.e., their real education.

I've had a couple arguments with one former colleague in particular about the effectiveness of NCLB. He was a former educator and he feels he'd seen the good of the law in action. Unfortunately, I could never goad him into REALLY debating with me so that I could better understand his advocacy of what I continue to think of as a detrimental law.

So, today, I found this article. And now I wish I'd been armed with this particular argument when facing off with this particular friend. A couple of points in this article make me bristle a little ( e.g., Murray's stance that what he calls "educational romanticism" is nothing more than a byproduct of "elite white guilt") but I see much truth and logic to even these pricklier of points. I think there IS some sense to the idea that expecting all school-age children to perform at "above average" levels on standardized tests is hilarious. Not only does that expectation ignore the actual denotation of the word "average" but it also grates stiffly against the natural logic that any given student body will be composed of a wide variety of ability levels-- such that some students simply are NOT as intellectually able as others. This Charles Murray fellow seems to be onto something, don't you think?

Now, forgive me this work-related post. It's just that, for the last 5 years, I've been part of an industry that's thrown me into more than one crisis of conscience. Articles like this one light a tentative little Bunsen burner beneath me ol' heart cockles, you know? Like, maybe some people somewhere are trying to apply a little bit of reason to the federal muddling in the educational system in this country? Maybe?