News-Record.com

Maybe we could substitute No Child Left Behind with annual teacher competancy testing and merit pay raises?

Wow, the first letter I've ever seen by Gay Cheney that didn't bash Bush by name, just one of his policies.

"Why are we insisting that all children be the same, have the same knowledge and abilities? Basic English and math, yes, but what about all the rest?"

Let' see, do we take each kid in grade school and ask them what they want to learn and what they don't? Ok Johnny, you like sports, so you're exempt from history, foreign language, advanced English/math, and all the rest. Ok Susie, as a 6th grader interested in Bolivia, no other subjects needed for you except to study Bolivia (except basic math/English).

I thought K-12 was for students to learn basic skills that all children should know. Then they go to college, community college, trade school, etc. to pursue what specific interests they have. Where did I miss that?

Our schools are having a difficult time as it is getting children to learn. How do Ms. Cheney & Sutlive propose to tailor education individually? I'm sure lots of money factors in the answer.

This is a most interesting perspective on education by two educators. No doubt that NCLB has some flaws in its implementation, but can anyone really quarrel with its goal of accountability in education? It is estimated that this country spends $536 billion each year for K-12 education. That's a big number, but to put it into perspective, that's more than the gross domestic product of the country of Russia! Shouldn't we be measuring the growth in learning of those children and have some accountability measures for the educators with that price tag?

While we are spending the equivalent of the gross domestic product of a country such as Russia, a recent study, "The twin challenges of mediocrity and inequality - literacy in the U.S. from an internation perspective", concludes that "the average literacy scores of U.S.
adults on the NALS and IALS assessments are quite
modest; the mean scores of U.S. adults on each
literacy scale are at best average with respect to their international peers and, for a number of key subgroups, the U.S. ranks in the bottom half of the distribution for high-income countries." This means that with all of the education dollars that we are spending, adults in our country are only average at best in literacy compared to other high-income countries internatonally. Literacy basically is measured in terms of reading comprehension, ability to use and apply information, and mathematical skills. And, guess what? Those are the basic skills that NCLB is designed to measure. We must have some accountability from our public schools in advancing literacy beyond mediocrity in the international world.

In short, this is the answer to the writers' question of "Why does each child have to be excellent in what the test requires?" The answer is that as a country, we are falling behind the rest of the world in literacy, and ultimately, economically. We are not insisting that all people be the same as the writers suggest. What we are insisting upon is that all American adults be able to possess and display more than mediocrity in literacy; reading and math. Our future economic security depends upon it. Children may not enjoy learning the hard literacy skills needed to ensure their economic viability in the future, but they'll like the hard realities of literacy mediocrity even less as an adult.

Hey everybody, there appears to be a true nutcase that has been heard from a neighboring county.

And the other person is a professor emeritus and at UNCG of all places. Apparently this school has been spewing poison for some time, didn't Dot Kearns go there about a century ago?

I am appreciative that I didn't cross paths with this professor when I received my MBA from this same school.

Gay Cheney pretty much sums up everything that is wrong in this country.

Dean,

Just back in town for awhile. Great response. Many kids today cannot read or do simple math problems. If they don't get "instant gratification" by some computer game teaching them times tables or a reading game it just isn't "fun" - it is work and discipline. It is just more fun to play a video game than read a book or easier plob a 5 year old in front of cartoons than sit and read with him.

It will truly be survival of the fittest in the future and our kids are missing out. Whether they are tested now or later, there will always be tests and competition. Testing is not going away.

Thank you for your great wisdom and insight.

Barbara Ann,

Thanks, but this doesn't require wisdom, nor do you have to be a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to think some this through. All it really takes is a dose of common sense that most of us were born with. It does seem to be lacking on some of our college campuses though. Of course, we still have retained ours here at Faber.