The worst years my DS had were in 3rd and 5th grade--in the early years of SOLs.

Sadly, there are teachers who have never worked under any other system in their careers. They have never had the freedom that the older teachers had so they think this is all normal. Sad. The older teachers are all retiring or leaving and there will be nobody there to help the younger ones learn the real art of teaching when the tests are gone I'm afraid. The profession is not attracting truly creative spirits anymore. They want robots in the classrooms (or just computer lessons).

Those of us who had kids in school before and after 2001 can relate to the change--and it certainly was not for the better.

^ But the testing companies have turned a tidy profit.

Sadly, there are teachers who have never worked under any other system in their careers. They have never had the freedom that the older teachers had so they think this is all normal. Sad. The older teachers are all retiring or leaving and there will be nobody there to help the younger ones learn the real art of teaching when the tests are gone I'm afraid. The profession is not attracting truly creative spirits anymore. They want robots in the classrooms (or just computer lessons).

Anonymous wrote:

The No Child Left Behind Act was the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which goes back to 1965

Yes, I understand that, but the PP was talking about the Dept. of Education being messed up---not NCLB per se. It seems the DOE is flipping around like a fish out of water and it's not making things better----worse! It's true that blame should probably be laid more at the feet of a Congress that cannot seem to do anything. The Congress needs to vote on an education bill that GETS RID OF THE TESTING and gets the DOE out of the day to day operation of schools (because they are truly an elephant for the locals).

Also, the testing has been in place since 2001----14 years now. It is not "recent" as you wrote earlier. We have had plenty of time to gather data and decide that it truly sucks and has not improved education for the students. Both hard and soft evidence. Neither one is impressive in the least. Lots of manipulation has gone on at all levels. It's a mess.

You are talking to multiple posters.

Also, the Department of Education does more than just the testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The No Child Left Behind Act was the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which goes back to 1965

Yes, I understand that, but the PP was talking about the Dept. of Education being messed up---not NCLB per se. It seems the DOE is flipping around like a fish out of water and it's not making things better----worse! It's true that blame should probably be laid more at the feet of a Congress that cannot seem to do anything. The Congress needs to vote on an education bill that GETS RID OF THE TESTING and gets the DOE out of the day to day operation of schools (because they are truly an elephant for the locals).

Also, the testing has been in place since 2001----14 years now. It is not "recent" as you wrote earlier. We have had plenty of time to gather data and decide that it truly sucks and has not improved education for the students. Both hard and soft evidence. Neither one is impressive in the least. Lots of manipulation has gone on at all levels. It's a mess.

Anonymous wrote:
The Department of Education was born in 1979, not 1965 (for clarification).

Yes, get rid of the testing. Has anyone proved that the NCLB Act testing and its ramifications ever caused improvement for students? Where is the proof? It seems like the reverse, if anything, happened. The DOE has some benefit, but it has become bloated and people are doing things to be doing things and are not there to improve education. The power struggles are ridiculous.

The No Child Left Behind Act was the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which goes back to 1965. The testing part is only one component of NCLB. Other components include Title I (federal funding for schools with a lot of poor children); grants to the states for teacher training, technology, and English language acquisition; and federal impact aid (federal funding to school districts affected by federal property, on which property tax is not paid).

http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/no-child-left-behind-overview

People generally think that NCLB is ONLY testing, but it is much more and very important and the testing bit was only added recently.

It's not "recent" if your child went through his education with the testing EVERY year. Never escaped it. It defined his K-12 experience. Makes me sick. I will not let my grandchildren go to public school if the feds are running the show. NOT. And thank God the 529's are safe.

The Department of Education was born in 1979, not 1965 (for clarification).

Yes, get rid of the testing. Has anyone proved that the NCLB Act testing and its ramifications ever caused improvement for students? Where is the proof? It seems like the reverse, if anything, happened. The DOE has some benefit, but it has become bloated and people are doing things to be doing things and are not there to improve education. The power struggles are ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

This link shows the timeline on the NCLB waivers and how they have been approved (or not). It gives some insight into the tension between the state DOE's and the federal DOE. It's very interesting to note how Texas really doesn't care what the feds tell them and apparently Washington state is not all too concerned with federal mandates either.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/nclb-w...ine-and-glossary-of-terms.html

What a messed up agency. And people want to give them more power. Eliminate Dept of Education now and repeal NCLB. Go back to state run education. This is a mess.

You really want to go back to 1965? that is when the first education bill was passed and NCLB is just a new title for the reauthorization. People generally think that NCLB is ONLY testing, but it is much more and very important and the testing bit was only added recently. Repeal the testing component and tweak to make better, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Math manipulatives and other tools commonly found in US Common Core math curriculum for that age.

I'm pretty sure that Common Core didn't invent math manipulatives!

Maybe Common Core can cure cancer.

Anonymous wrote:An excerpt (from a description of the 7-8 year old class) from the Smithsonian article titled "Why are Finland's Schools Successful?":

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?no-ist=&fb_locale=zh_tw&no-cache=&page=2


Little hats, coats, shoes stowed in their cubbies, the children wiggled next to their desks in their stocking feet, waiting for a turn to tell their tale from the playground. They had just returned from their regular 15 minutes of playtime outdoors between lessons. “Play is important at this age,” Rintola would later say. “We value play.”

With their wiggles unwound, the students took from their desks little bags of buttons, beans and laminated cards numbered 1 through 20.

^ Math manipulatives and other tools commonly found in US Common Core math curriculum for that age.

As for play time, I'm pretty sure they aren't going outdoors much more than a few times a day - heck, in a school here it'd take kids 15 minutes just to get their coats, hats and mittens on and off, let alone play time...

^ Agree. They overreached big time and they don't know how to rein it in and save face. The crazies are running the asylum.

This link shows the timeline on the NCLB waivers and how they have been approved (or not). It gives some insight into the tension between the state DOE's and the federal DOE. It's very interesting to note how Texas really doesn't care what the feds tell them and apparently Washington state is not all too concerned with federal mandates either.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/nclb-w...ine-and-glossary-of-terms.html

What a messed up agency. And people want to give them more power. Eliminate Dept of Education now and repeal NCLB. Go back to state run education. This is a mess.

This link shows the timeline on the NCLB waivers and how they have been approved (or not). It gives some insight into the tension between the state DOE's and the federal DOE. It's very interesting to note how Texas really doesn't care what the feds tell them and apparently Washington state is not all too concerned with federal mandates either.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/nclb-waivers-timeline-and-glossary-of-terms.html

An excerpt (from a description of the 7-8 year old class) from the Smithsonian article titled "Why are Finland's Schools Successful?":

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?no-ist=&fb_locale=zh_tw&no-cache=&page=2


Little hats, coats, shoes stowed in their cubbies, the children wiggled next to their desks in their stocking feet, waiting for a turn to tell their tale from the playground. They had just returned from their regular 15 minutes of playtime outdoors between lessons. “Play is important at this age,” Rintola would later say. “We value play.”

With their wiggles unwound, the students took from their desks little bags of buttons, beans and laminated cards numbered 1 through 20.