Daniel Wall: Federal Education Policy Does Not Improve Education
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Over the years I have read many of Julia Steiny’s columns. Sometimes I have found them insightful, but often I have found her opinions biased, expressing a clear anti-teacher and anti- teacher’s union agenda. However, Julia’s most recent editorial contains some points with which I agree. In her column Failing Schools Need More Options, she makes several important commentaries on government reform policies. Steiny is critical of No Child Left Behind, the federal law that endeavored to “name and shame” teachers and schools into improving.
Her statements echo some of the opinions expressed by urban educational expert Pedro Noguera. Noguera was in Rhode Island last week, speaking at a forum at Roger Williams University. Dr. Noguera is a professor of education at New York University, and has authored several books on the struggles of underprivileged and urban students. In addition, Norguera is an outspoken critic of many of the reform policies of both the Bush and Obama administrations.
According to Dr. Noguera, in the ten years since the passage of No Child Left Behind, very little has been accomplished to improve education. Noguera has often been quoted as saying that the No Child Left Behind law doesn’t just need to be improved, it needs to be “scrapped” all together. He also feels that the Race to the Top is merely more of the same: set higher standards, raise the bar, and schools will magically improve. “Policy makers have focused on how to achieve higher test scores without addressing the influence of poverty,” asserts Dr. Noguera.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThreats and Punishment
Laws like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top punish and threaten students, teachers and schools for factors that are beyond their control, while ignoring poverty and the educational problems that result from poverty. Poverty causes numerous out of school factors that contribute to poor educational performance. Factors like poor health care and nutrition, frequent student mobility, and inadequate preparation for school, greatly influence a student’s ability to achieve academically.
Both Steiny and Noguera seem to agree that federal education policy makers are far removed from the realities of the classroom. Furthermore, they have demonstrated that they don’t have any understanding of what it would take to improve education.
Daniel Wall is a Providence teacher and a Cranston parent.
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
