Recent local signatories to the petition urging Congress not to reauthorize NCLB include Neigborhood Schools Alliance members Nicole Breedlove and Ruth Adkins, PPS teacher and frequent Blue Oregon commenter Sid Leader, and Executive Director of Northwest Environmental Advocates, Nina Bell.
Nina Bell's opposition to NCLB apparently stems from her dissatisfaction with Portland's TAG programs, particularly the ACCESS program at Northeast Portland's Sabin School, where her 13-year-old son is a student. Her solution? She home-schools her son part time.
Now parents bitching about TAG is nothing new. My son hated his TAG pull-out program back in the early 90's (and no, I never said a word about it. I have mixed feelings about TAG.) But what, you're probably wondering, does TAG have to do with NCLB? Here's what, according to the Tribune article:
"But TAG parents generally worry that with so much attention paid to closing the achievement gap, their gifted kids will get lost in the shuffle and remain unchallenged, unmotivated, even drop out."
I wrote as much in this post about NCLB "intentionally" leaving some kids behind:
"In order to raise test score passing rates, which is what NCLB is all about, it's best to ignore the top achievers and to forget about the hopeless cases altogether. In other words, leave them behind!"
That means TAG students.
And speaking of test scores, here's a post from Jim Horn's excellent (and thoroughly anti-NCLB) Schools Matter site with an article explaining why the Finns have the best educational system in the world. Unlike the high-stakes and punitive testing required by NCLB, in Finland
"...there are no nationwide exams or big final tests. It is a system of continuous assessment by a mixture of monthly tests and teacher evaluations."
Gee. What a good idea.
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