'No Child' law's limited focus misses real issues, teachers say 'No Child' law's limited focus misses real issues, teachers say (February 23, 2005)

What would they do differently?

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

It's easy to criticize, particularly when the topic is the federal No Child Left Behind Act, widely scorned as inflexible, overly ambitious and under-funded.

The 2001 law sets specific annual targets for standardized test scores in English and math for K-12 students. By 2014, 100 percent of students are supposed to be turning in above-average scores.

Teachers at Woodside and Menlo-Atherton high schools don't argue with the law's spirit, but do resent its implications of failure when its one-size-fits-all standards are not met. What would they do differently?

** No Child uses fixed goals that all children have to meet. Tracking students' growth from year to year would be a more revealing gauge of their effort and progress, teachers say.

** An underlying assumption in high school curricula is that students eligible for graduation should also be eligible for college. Reorganizing education to clearly recognize vocational options would better reflect the variety of student career plans, teachers say.

** Many students come to the ninth grade unprepared for high school reading and math. These students should be delayed from entering high school until they're ready, teachers say.

** State and federal governments should be spending more on education, with strong emphasis on the importance of parent literacy and active involvement in their children's education, teachers say.

In 2005-06, of the approximately 1,000 California school districts, 14 -- including the Sequoia Union High School District -- are facing No Child sanctions. In 2006-07, that number is likely to be 300 and could be as high as 800, said Pat Gemma, superintendent of the Sequoia district.

Such a development may destroy the law's credibility, he said. "We may well get out of program-improvement status not so much because of what we're doing, but because the criteria will change."

E-mail a friend a link to this story.