Jan 5 No Child Left Behind

I was particularly interested in reading the section of chapter twelve that dealt with school curriculum and testing. As a former social studies education major, the No Child Left Behind Act was an often debated subject in many classes, with most people arguing that it did more to hurt public education and students than help them. This chapter verified some of those opinions. Berger wrote about debates regarding the best teaching methods for subjects such as reading and math. Proponents of different teaching techniques (such as phonics or whole language) base many of their ideas on developmental and psychological research. This causes problems when instituting a standardized test. Which method should the test favor if multiple are based on sound empirical research? For example, initially the NCLB mandated standardized tests favored phonics, but many states required different teaching methods (Berger, 2008, p. 320). Hence, the tests were initially biased toward schools that taught phonics, no matter if children learning using the whole language method were also learning to read. Another problem of standardized tests favoring one teaching method is that it encourages teachers to teach using only that method. This does a disservice to teachers, who are forced to be less flexible and creative in their lesson planning. This hampers student learning and makes school more boring. Because of different types of communities, cultures, socioeconomic conditions, etc in the US, I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all teaching method for any subject. However, standardized tests like those mandated by NCLB imply that there is such a system out there and that it can be achieved. I think this is dangerous because it favors the few people who happen to learn how the test best measures, and the rest of the students must try to adapt themselves to fit. This is unfortunate in a country that supposedly celebrates diversity.

Berger, K. S. (2008). The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. New York: Worth Publishers.