NCLB, what a popular topic! If I started talking about NCLB, the entire blog would be filled so I decided to focus on one aspect that I knew a little about which is special education students. I was placed in a 3rd and 4th grade special ed. classroom for my freshmen observation. I was there a month and was able to observe a lot about the students in my class.
Reading about NCLB "Distracting Schools from Productive Reforms" in the article Evaluating "No Child Left Behind" by Linda Darling-Hammond I completely agree with some of the statements. One statement was the thought, "It is impossible for the subgroups (English language-learners and special-needs students) ever to be 100 percent proficient. Schools serving a significant share of these learners will inevitably be labeled failing, even if all their students consistently make strong learning gains." This statement was true in the school district I was placed in. The school had a good special education program so parents from other school districts were open-enrolling their students and sending them to this specific school district. My cooperating teacher notified me her school district is close to being labeled "failing" and it could be due to the large population of special need students in the school.
Reading another article on NCLB entitled Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools by Jack Jennings and Diane Stark Rentner made the point about the frustration of actually giving the test to the special needs students. They state the tests are "inappropriate and serve no instructional purpose." I witnessed this first hand. My cooperating teacher was required to test her students. Like all teachers, she read the directions to the student who was a fourth grader functioning at a 1st/2nd grade level. After the directions, she couldn't say much more. The student looked scared and confused, like the teacher had just talked in a foreign language. He did not even know how to begin. Finally, the student began clicking answers like it was a game because it was a computerized test. Comprehension or learning were not present. The student could not read the question or answers. He could simply pick a letter, since he did know his alphabet.
I felt it was a waste of money (for the test itself) and time for the instructor and student. If the government expects to assess special needs students, the tests need to be appropriate for the student. I know NCLB has flaws and good ideas, some much more complicated than others. I feel like test appropriateness is such a basic concept, it amazes me this has to be an issue.
Reading about NCLB "Distracting Schools from Productive Reforms" in the article Evaluating "No Child Left Behind" by Linda Darling-Hammond I completely agree with some of the statements. One statement was the thought, "It is impossible for the subgroups (English language-learners and special-needs students) ever to be 100 percent proficient. Schools serving a significant share of these learners will inevitably be labeled failing, even if all their students consistently make strong learning gains." This statement was true in the school district I was placed in. The school had a good special education program so parents from other school districts were open-enrolling their students and sending them to this specific school district. My cooperating teacher notified me her school district is close to being labeled "failing" and it could be due to the large population of special need students in the school.
Reading another article on NCLB entitled Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools by Jack Jennings and Diane Stark Rentner made the point about the frustration of actually giving the test to the special needs students. They state the tests are "inappropriate and serve no instructional purpose." I witnessed this first hand. My cooperating teacher was required to test her students. Like all teachers, she read the directions to the student who was a fourth grader functioning at a 1st/2nd grade level. After the directions, she couldn't say much more. The student looked scared and confused, like the teacher had just talked in a foreign language. He did not even know how to begin. Finally, the student began clicking answers like it was a game because it was a computerized test. Comprehension or learning were not present. The student could not read the question or answers. He could simply pick a letter, since he did know his alphabet.
I felt it was a waste of money (for the test itself) and time for the instructor and student. If the government expects to assess special needs students, the tests need to be appropriate for the student. I know NCLB has flaws and good ideas, some much more complicated than others. I feel like test appropriateness is such a basic concept, it amazes me this has to be an issue.
1 comment:
Great with detailed information. It is really very helpful for us.
Village Talkies a top-quality professional corporate video production company in Bangalore and also best explainer video company in Bangalore & animation video makers in Bangalore, Chennai, India & Maryland, Baltimore, USA provides Corporate & Brand films, Promotional, Marketing videos & Training videos, Product demo videos, Employee videos, Product video explainers, eLearning videos, 2d Animation, 3d Animation, Motion Graphics, Whiteboard Explainer videos Client Testimonial Videos, Video Presentation and more for all start-ups, industries, and corporate companies. From scripting to corporate video production services, explainer & 3d, 2d animation video production , our solutions are customized to your budget, timeline, and to meet the company goals and objectives.
As a best video production company in Bangalore, we produce quality and creative videos to our clients.
Post a Comment