Recently it was called to my attention, Thomas Jefferson should never have been in the History Books, and it is exciting to see the ignoramus state of Texas is going do something about it and make sure such a disgusting person never existed.

Such a smarty pants as Thomas Jefferson must have pissed off a lot of people, guess we will just say he never was a president, we can just change the numbers or something.

Removing Jefferson from the text books is just the start, history is like an iceberg you never know what one will find below the tip, so not looking at it, is the way to handle it.

My ten gallon hat is off to Texas for grabbing ignorance by the long horns and taking out an illegal alien standing next to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

Making it so it does not work, is a great way to get rid of that scourge of society, sabotage reality and at the same time getting rid of public education, as it is really just an other socialist liberal entitlement.

The problem I have with this is Obama is trying to codify into policy discrimination. in that he is trying to measure schools by using a different “ruler” for each school.

That why I support the old policy of standardized testing to measure students progress.

However

the Problem is determining who is responsible when a student does not measure up .( the student , parents and/or the teacher).

In order to answer this question I purpose two solution .

One that students be tested at the start and the end of each term . to determine how much progress was made during the term.,

second I think Camera’s and mics should be installed in each classroom of failing school and class time recorded,  then at the end of the term if the students are still failing goto the instant reply to see if it’s the teachers or the students fault.

If a system like Obama purposed were used then the poor social economic conditions could be used as “cop out” for poor performance by teachers/students

I have a few points to add based on personal experience.

During High school way back in the 80’s my history teacher had me to help her grade tests and average students grades at the end of each term and I recall that 50-60% of the students were failing badly. Also I want to note that her test was downright easy. After grading the final exams and averaging their final grades I would tell her the results so she could enter them on a form to turn into the school admin. However at this point when I told her students name and grade usually a grade in the 30-40’s and guess what she would put 70 on the form .( 70 was the minimum passing grade a D )

The students went on to get a High school diploma

I am sure that this happens ever day in schools throughout America.

Therefore the solution is to use in public schools a system like the one uses by doctors , lawyers and engineers In that a body separate and independent from the school system would givan exam to students and if the students failed have the authority to require the student to repeat the class until they pass.

would you goto a doctor who failed the state medical board exam -no

would you drive on a bridge designed by an enginieer who failed his state lic exam -No

I realize some think I write too much, but that is the way I am and this
topic seems to warrant sufficient discussion.  So sorry if you have not
patience with me.  That’s life.  I suggest you move on and disregard my
post.

Emotional reaction to what is perceived to be a travesty is good in that
emotions are what motivate action.  However, emotions are elicited
from beliefs and often beliefs are distorted views of the world.  If
emotions are based on facts that is a different matter as facts are more
solid evidence than mere belief and the emotions that they arouse have
firm ground for action.

Having observed students first hand in public school for ten years and
now another twelve observing and grading at the university level those
who would teach school (public or private), I don’t think I am alone in
thinking that education is the one single thing most important to a
developing human being.  But myopic views do not do the situation any
real good and may really only go to stultify any progress as action may
be stalled.  Such local views may be relevant only to a provincial
truism.  I hesitate to say truth because even in local areas there are
major differences among schools and their education approaches. 
Precision is really the only way to effect beneficial changes.

Those who express views on Truthdig usually do so out of personal
reaction and an oblique view of entire domains of life, such as politics,
religion, economics, and education.  Personal reaction is good to have
as it indicates one who is engaged in his/her world, but expressing
judgments and expecting concurrence about what has not been
substantiated is foolish hubris.

Regarding the consequences of NCLB some research that can be used
to support opinions is one, ironically, that comes from George Bush’s
state of Texas.  It is the first of such studies to be conducted, done at
Rice University and the Univ. of Texas/Austin in 2008 found that the
Texas public school accountability system, i.e., NCLB, directly
contributes to a lower graduation rate than did earlier systems.  It
seems Texas public high schools lose about 135,000 students prior to
graduation, not an insignificant amount.  But what is also not
surprising is that an excessive number of these dropouts are African-
American, Latino and other ESL students.  Of the more than 271,000
(again not an insignificant amount) students, 60% of African-African,
75% Latino, and 80% ESL students did not graduate within five years
and the research shows that an overall graduation rate of 33%.  In this
case numbers are extremely important.  It seems high energy effort
ought to be expended by those in these ethnic groups who have any
status either in wealth or in society to exercise pressure to end this
travesty.

It is concluded that “high-stakes, test-based accountability does not
lead to school improvement or equitable educational possibilities.”  This
study however does not go into what happen to students who do or do
not graduate which is one of the questions on this forum.  And I think
one that is most important as it indicates the value of the education
system.  The extremely serious implication of NCLB is that more and
more because of the requirements, school faculty come to view
students not as people to educate but as either potential liabilities or
assets for career development or school funding.  Not a good basis for
education by anyone’s account.

All that aside, though not to imply not important, a look at the data
about what happens to people after the high school experience
(whether graduated or not) is available.  It is way too much to even
synopsize here but I provide sites you might check out for a better
sense of situation.  Some go to college but many more do not.  Of
those who graduate, some do not go to college made decisions not to
go, others cannot go because of their perception of the financial
limitations.  Financial limitations can be overcome with student loan
situations, but these are not available to all who desire to go.  In my
estimation Obama’s effort to change the program is courageous,
actually heroic.

For a digest of education statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/2009menu_tables.asp
This is a Digest of Education Statistics that provides a compilation of
statistical information covering the broad field of American education
from prekindergarten through graduate school.
Outcomes of Education is a link that shows 16 tables with descriptions
of what happens to the educated.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/stw/sw0.htm
This site discusses America and its having the worst school-to-work
transition system of any advanced industrial country.
http://education-
portal.com/articles/Tracking_Student_Data_Gains_Traction_at_State_Lev
el.html
A visit here will give some idea of the problem of school-to-work
transition for ALL students.  It look like this last site will have to be
copy pasted since it is too long for TD to post properly.

To me it is yet another PATCH AND FAIL program.
One of the aims of those that have helped destroy
the public shcool sytem was to weaken the teachers union
which they have done very well
also , until every child is funded equally, no matter
what neiborhood they are from,  some schools are
destined to fail.

By gerard, March 13 at 8:54 pm #

“I wonder if I can stop, once I get started on this subject?”

gerard, you picked the thought right off of my brain. I’ve been at it all day….. on this subject.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is a huge example of just how much damage has been done, and I honestly don’t know if they’ll be able to put it back together again.

I remember the initiation of NCLB back in Texas, where it was unleashed as state legislation before the rest of us got stuck with it. The disastrous results were apparent almost immediately, and that was over a decade ago. All the horror that was predicted to result from this policy is being visited upon us in triple spades, and NOBODY is held accountable for any of it.

I wonder if I can stop, once I get started on this subject?  First, we’ll never be able to legislate proficiency and accomplishment.  It’s a personal thing, easily influenced by environments at home and at school, improved by staff’s sensitivity to the real needs of children, both emotional and intellectual. 
  Providing an academic environment that is free for children and adults to exchange any and all ideas new and old is also primary, and permission to arrive at decisions democratically via open discussion. Kids will rise to the challenge when they are invited to progress at their own individual pace and not set apart as “bright” or “slow” or “blue” and “green” or any other divisive categorizing. Under a challenging environment they will learn as much as they can as fast as they can—and not otherwise.
  The problem with “left behind” and all that is the categorical labelling and subsequent prejudicial views.  What we don’t need is any more “ivy-league-ism” that separates the “sheep” from the “goats.”
We don’t need any more sheep, either—or scape-goats, for that matter.
  And get corporations out of the classroom!  They seem to poison everything they touch just to get money.

No one has ever advocated to find out what happens to students of a particular school after they graduate. Yet that seems to me to be hugely more relevant than what the retooled LNCB is slated to be.
No one has ever proposed to ask students to “rate” their school and yet, is that too crazy?
The current proposal is “LNCB-Lite”.