NCLB

I just accidentally posted about the NCLB on the motherblog and now i deleted it but of course without copying it first. I'll try to repeat my rant in the right blog.

I don't understand the NCLB Act. I can see how it was a good idea at first, but how do standardized tests help evaluate a child's success in school? Not everyone are good test takers. How will this assist in Reading? This may be a stupid question, but isn't the basis of reading skills, is well... reading? How do you know if a child is a good reader by scantron sheets? And what about the teachers? They have to teach by the book and for the sake of making sure everyone scores high on these tests. What kind of education is that? I don't think NCLB is fair for the students. It puts too much pressure on them and everyone involved- teachers, parents, etc. It takes time out of the classroom to go over standardized test questions rather than learning something new and exciting. It's all about money and politics these days, which is sad, because of allplaces- schools? Schools are supposed to be safe havens for kids but they've become this center for political debate and chaos. You need to go in the schools, work with the kids and teachers, to see the success and drawbacks, not just try to understand it by penciled in ovals. I do believe that there is a lot of corruption within the NCLB. Between the unfair factors being argues about minorities and drop-outs, to the funding- things just don't seem right with this Act. Testing children isn't a better way to see what they know and don't know, it's just another way to assess them, a way, which in my opinion, is not effective at all.