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[Phys-l] NCLB by Kozol



JONATHAN KOZOL ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

[From an interview with Matthew Fishbane]

JONATHAN KOZOL, SALON - I think the tests in their present form are useless, because although President Bush promoted them by saying, "All we want to do is help these teachers see where their students need more help," the results typically don't come back before the end of June. What is the teacher supposed to do when she finally sees the test scores in the middle of the summer, send a postcard to little Shaniqua, saying, you know, "If I knew last winter what I know now, I would have put more emphasis on the those skills"?

I recommended to the Democrats that they replace these tests with diagnostic tests [Such as the FCI!], which are given individually by the teacher to her students. They are anxiety-free and you don't have to wait six months for McGraw-Hill or Harcourt to mis-score them, as they often do. The teacher gets results immediately. And it's not time stolen from education because she actually learns while she's giving this test.

Ref: UnderNews.

There is much more:


http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/08/30/kozol/

bc, whose wife retired five years early because of NCLB.