NCLB

[ASUADPi]

I did a search for a thread strictly on NCLB but I couldn't find anything.

Anyways, I got this via my work email and I know that other people have found other things regarding NCLB (putting it in layman's terms). I just wanted to share.


I know there is a football analogy for NCLB but I'm not sure where to find it.








This is an interesting take on "No Child Left Behind." Teachers will enjoy it, parents will be informed and politicians should consider it.



No Dentist Left Behind



My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth.

When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"



"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their
licenses to practice."



"That's terrible," he said.



"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"


"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who
is practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."



"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control? For example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work. Also, many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay. To top it all off, so many of my clients have well water which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"



"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that you, my dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job, and you needn't fear a little accountability."



"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as
anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most."



"Don't' get touchy," I said.



"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he was
clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth. "Try furious! In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"



"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making and stonewalling won't improve dental health'... I am quoting from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.



"What's the DOC?" he asked.



"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved"



"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.



The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"



"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."



"That's too complicated, expensive and time- consuming," I said. "Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."



"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think . This can't be happening," he said despairingly.



"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."



"How?" he asked.



"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.


"You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience? BIG HELP!"


"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."



I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely they will see the point."


He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that I, a teacher, see in the mirror so often lately.

[RU OX Alum]

awesome

i think NCLB is just a precussor to getting rid of public education.

What are other people's thoughts?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

awesome

i think NCLB is just a precussor to getting rid of public education.

What are other people's thoughts?

Assuming you mean 'precursor', and assuming the government still provides a form of 'social welfare' in educational stipends for the underprivileged, this might be one of the best things that could ever happen to education in this nation.

Privatization and competition could go a LONG way toward creating an environmental shift in schools, and self-selecting out the horrendous administration that holds a lot of schools back.

[Kevin]

Here in OKC, NCLB has been great. My wife, a teacher hates it. My mother, a teacher, hates it... I just have to point out to them that despite the fact that they have to put up with this annoying testing, the benefits realized by the students have been great.

Here in Oklahoma City, our public schools have year after year been complete failures. NCLB finally held them accountable. The result? Charter schools moved in -- a lot of charter schools. Now, those same kids who were dropping out are going to college.

It seems that most of the opponents of NCLB are laser-focused on the success of our schools. Unfortunately, they seem to be so focused on that aspect of things that they forget all about the success of the students.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Here in OKC, NCLB has been great. My wife, a teacher hates it. My mother, a teacher, hates it... I just have to point out to them that despite the fact that they have to put up with this annoying testing, the benefits realized by the students have been great.

Here in Oklahoma City, our public schools have year after year been complete failures. NCLB finally held them accountable. The result? Charter schools moved in -- a lot of charter schools. Now, those same kids who were dropping out are going to college.

It seems that most of the opponents of NCLB are laser-focused on the success of our schools. Unfortunately, they seem to be so focused on that aspect of things that they forget all about the success of the students.

This may be why the program was not called "No Teacher Left Behind" - it appears quite a few have been . . . although I must admit, teachers make the best half-assed analogies to distribute via email.

[JonInKC]

Talkin' out of turn - that's a paddlin'.

Starin' at my sandles - that's a paddlin'.

Paddlin' the school canoe? Oh you better BELIEVE that's a paddlin'.

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

I know there is a football analogy for NCLB but I'm not sure where to find it.

No Child Left Behind: The Football Version
Author Unknown, additions by Carolyn K., director, Hoagies' Gifted Education Page

1. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL.
3. When players arrive at any game with remedial skills in football for any reason, their coaches will be penalized for their performance, regardless of how long the players have been on the team. cjk
4. If remedial players do not achieve proficiency by the next statistically recorded game, their coaches and athletic directors will be put on probation. After several games of probation, coaches and athletic directors may be released. Coach and athletic director probation and release will not be conditional on the size of gains in the remedial players football skills; players must reach proficiency. cjk
5. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. Coaches will use all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.
6. All coaches will be proficient in all aspects of football, or they will be released.
7. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th and 11th games.
8. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.

If no football player gets ahead, then no football player will be left behind.