NYT: Ed. Secy. Spellings Suggests Expansion of Testing (NCLB)

[DeepModem Mom]

Education Official Suggests Expansion of Testing
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Published: July 9, 2005


WASHINGTON, July 8 - Margaret Spellings, the education secretary, suggested on Friday that the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires that public school children be tested in reading and math, could be expanded to include other subjects....

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Expanding the federal testing requirements to include subjects beyond reading, math and science, however, would appear to require Congress to amend the law....

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Ms. Spellings's comments came in a rare unscripted event for a senior member of the Bush administration. She shared a stage with the union president, Edward J. McElroy, who posed questions based on written queries submitted in advance by teachers at the meeting....

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His deferential manner came a day after his speech to the union in which he said teachers were expressing "incredible frustration" with the No Child Left Behind law "because of the way it's been implemented." Three-quarters of teachers responding to a union survey expressed unhappiness with the law, he said.

For the coming school year, states are required to test all children in Grades 3 through 8 and those in the 10th, 11th or 12th in reading and math. By the 2007-8 school year, states must be ready to begin testing children in science....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/education/09spellings.html

[Roland99]

1. "we're in the infancy of accountability and education in our country"

She forgot to include "for members of the GOP" after that sentence.

[reality based]

2. Who gets money and makes campaign contributions

as a result of increased testing? Anyone know?

[mbperrin]

10. You might check Pearson Education - they're a Carlyle group

and in charge of this here in Texas.

[justgamma]

13. Neil Bush makes a killing off of NCLB

He has a software company.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/1/8/125556/7027

[DeepModem Mom]

15. Thanks for that nugget of info, justgamma. nt

[iconoclastic cat]

3. She's a gorgon.

Ask some people in California about the 70 or so districts which will go broke in the fall.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Does Spelling want a certain version of history to be taught and tested,

say, something that promotes this country as THE model for the world of all time? That it was founded on Christian principles? That the "Indians" were godless savages? That the pilgrims and their faith were the proper societal role model? That Reaganomics was/is the best thing that could have happened to all Americans? That children should obey and respect their president even if he is a fascist in reality?

Dunno. Moving something as fungible and debatable as history into a national standardized test as opposed to abstract principles and formulas like reading and math scares me.

[Demeter]

5. First Test The GOP

Test them for
1) basic intelligence with a minimum of 120 to pass

2) mental competence (and not just the basics; the equivalent of people handling nuclear weapons or people's lives)

3) morals (includes a criminal background check, FBI investigation, and snooping the neighbors).

[Danmel]

6. They're torturing these kids

and teaching them nothing- they don't learn critical thinking. They learn what's on the test. It sucks all the life and joy out of learning, but what would anyone in this administration know about love of learning?

[mbperrin]

11. Ask any college professor why students don't know what

they need to know for college - they'll tell you it's these stupid stupid standardized tests that they must have before leaving high school.

[JohnnyBoots]

17. Too busy studying for tests, than ...gasp develope thier own

own opinion and rational thought process.

[pointless]

7. I guess

they aren't killing off schools fast enough so they have to make it even harder for them to stay in compliance with the law.

[LizW]

8. Exactly.

Too many public schools are meeting the requirements of the math and reading tests, so their funding isn't getting cut. So the answer is to heap more requirements on them. :grr:

[Warren Stupidity]

9. how about weekly tracking tests?

Then we could cut schools off within a few weeks and all educational activity would be directed at test-taking rather than education. It would be perfect!

The second-most-stupid thing ted kennedy ever did was to work with the cabal on No Child's Behind Left.

[countingbluecars]

12. That's close to what is now happening

in Virginia. Students here take the Standards of Learning tests-the brainchild of George Allen when he was governor of Virginia. To prepare for those tests, students in many Virginia school systems are required to take benchmark tests every few months. The curriculum is now set in stone. In my county teachers cover the same material at the same time. Teachers are allowed to be "creative" in how they teach the prescribed curriculum.

[goclark]

14. Give me a break! Children are not plants

We do NOT need to check them every day to see if they are WET!

I KNOW she is crazy not, NCLB is a failure!!

[jazzjunkysue]

16. Right after we sit b*** down with a #2 and see how he does on the test....

[pfitz59]

18. NO...NO...NO!!!!!!!!!

Best thing we can do for kids is take away their computers and video games and throw them outside TO PLAY! NCLB has got to end!