K12> Harvard professor speaks on 'No child left behind' policy

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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: KispokoT@xxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 21:32:06 EST
Subject: Harvard professor speaks on 'No child left behind' policy
To: KispokoT@xxxxxxx

Harvard professor speaks on 'No child left behind' policy

THALIA BEARD Junior Staff Writer
January 27, 2004

High-stakes testing, the effects of legislation on underprivileged children and 
federal control over state and local affairs will
stand as central points for Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) 
Professor Dr. Gary Orfield's speech in Atlanta next week.

Dr. Orfield will speak in response to President Bush's No Child Left Behind 
Act, signed into legislation on Jan. 8, 2002.

We commissioned 14 studies that would be worthwhile in the act, but they 
[Congress] ignored them,said Orfield.The act is ideological,

Orfield, professor of education and social policy, claims that neither he nor 
any of his fellow colleagues ever received an invitation to
testify either before the House or Senate regarding the legislation at hand 
from Congress, despite commissioning and delivering a
report to them entitled, â??Hard Work for Good Schools: Facts not Fads in Title 
I Reform.

This is the most important radical change since 1965, it's essential that this 
be done right,says Orfield.

According to a 2002 White House news release, a program called Accountability 
for Results will be implemented as a part of the
No Child Left Behind act and, as a result, will establish a standard in each 
state for every child.

Accountability for Results creates strong standards in each state for what 
every child should know and learn in reading and math
in grades 3-8.

Student progress and achievement will be measured for every child, every year, 
according to a statement from the No Child Left
Behind Fact Sheet on the White House webpage.

The White House not only presented the facts from this legislation but also 
provided potential problems from these facts followed
by suggested solutions.

A problem presented from the accountability portion focused on the gap issue 
between minority and non-minority students.
Since 1965, the government has spent $130 billion on public education 
improvement. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act was signed into legislation, but its results continue to 
disappoint critics.

A solution to this problem posted on the White House Fact Sheet suggested that 
the assessment results and statewide policies
be altered in accordance to a student's status in terms of race, poverty and 
other issues.

One of the problems is we have 98 percent of our educators working for state 
and local, not the federal government, said Orfield.
They [Bush administration] are trying to reform schools without schools coming 
into some type of agreement. They are putting
pressure on schools the wrong way.

Although Orfield asserts that the bill is a mere reflection of unknowledgeable 
educational research, he does however agree that
there are some logistic objectives in the bill, such as the financial increase 
for poor schools and the increase for some reading programs.

This bill will sanction in most minority and integrated schools in the country, 
he said. It will have a destructive impact. Nine out
of 10 predominantly Latino and black schools have a concentrated poverty level.

These sanctions for these schools will drive the good teachers away from the 
pressure.

Bill Howe
National Association for Multicultural Education
NAME website: http://www.nameorg.org

14th Annual NAME International Conference
Kansas City, October 27-31, 2004 

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