New life for states

As if yesterday, I remember the day a parent queried me about the new No Child Left Behind education law. Wouldn’t it insist educators teach to the lowest common denominator?

I laughed, “I will be surprised if NCLB is still in effect five years from now. I don’t see any big changes.”

Ten years later — almost to the day —news hit the chalkboards that the U.S. Department of Education will accept state waivers against the 2014 NCLB requirements. The parent’s son is now a Marine serving in Afghanistan. Even if a day late and a dollar short, President Barack Obama’s proposal is spot on. NCLB graded schools for the one thing they had the least control over — the dependent variable of the student. The law completely ignored the independent variables of student success.

First, let’s not confuse the 2001 law with learning. NCLB is a civil rights law; all children should have access to adequate schooling. The main problem with NCLB is that it concentrates on a score. Everyone knows that the score is the last thing anyone, of a sound mind at least, concentrates on in a game — it is the play, the hustle, the team spirit. If a team has all of those components, then it can score. Not always, but usually.

A lot of research exists about learning, motivation and the elements of a successful school. NCLB ignores most of it. Rather than assessing schools on measurable parent involvement or the number of students in service-learning activities, NCLB relies on sub-par tests over static knowledge. Rather than measure a teacher’s quality on quantifiable parent interactions, extra-curricular involvement, applied expertise, continued education and professional involvement, NCLB again recognizes sub-par tests over static knowledge. Students, and teachers too, fail when schools simultaneously emphasize menial testing against the grander task of learning.

Granted, NCLB has not been all bad. It changed the way public schools teach. Learning in and of itself has not changed. But, say what you will, instruction has. Long gone are the days of spontaneous units that take on lives of their own. Vanquished are the teachers who “do their own thing” for better or worse. Almost erasing all of its evils — and there are plenty to be erased — NCLB established in stone that every kid counts.

There is no turning back now. If NCLB wasn’t the answer (and it wasn’t) then now is the time to rectify its mistakes. NCLB overstepped its purpose. The function of public education isn’t for students to reach equal scores. The function of education is to empower all students to be purposeful, literate citizens who play fair and hustle.

A NCLB waiver allows the state to improve upon this good idea gone bad. First, the revision should allow for specific school goals. One size does not fit all. Secondly, the revision should regulate curriculum that allows for autonomy, mastery and a sense of purpose. Finally, the goals should reflect the importance of student engagement, rigor and thought. They should foster teachers who know and love to teach. They should include the whole student along with parents and families. If their purpose is to produce an intelligent and critical generation, the state needs to wake up and grab this second chance for magic. After all, isn’t that what my former student in Afghanistan is fighting for?

Emily Forstner teaches Language Arts at Wasilla Middle School.