Book Review: Many Children Left Behind

Many Children Left Behind by Deborah Meier and George Wood (Editors).

Reviewed by Susie Berry

Many Children Left Behind (edited by Deborah Meier and George Wood, 2004) is a compilation of essays written by educators and supported by detailed research. There has been considerable bashing of No Child Left Behind (a law mandated by the federal government) and these authors agree that much is wrong but this book gives suggestions on how we can attempt to “right that wrong.” The book is loaded with information so this review will only focus on testing – how it has changed curriculum and how it is affecting students, teachers, and schools.

One of the biggest problems of NCLB is how it measures schools. As part of the NCLB law, states are required to test students each year and show Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The issue is how the states do this testing. The law mandates that 100% of students must score at the “proficient” level by the year 2014. How reasonable is that expectation and is a 100% proficiency level even possible with the kinds of tests being given? ISTEP+ (Indiana’s yearly test) is a criterion-referenced test currently based on Indiana’s State Standards. Students must score above an arbitrarily selected “cut score” in order to pass. NCLB requires that a school be labeled “failing” if a certain number of students do not reach the “cut scores”. One of the problems is that the test themselves as well as the “cut scores” are often changed from year to year. It’s almost as if the state is setting up students to fail.

Then to complicate this complicated issue, there is a question of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and special needs students (what the law calls “students with disabilities”). Schools with a high number of these students are being punished and labeled “failing” – no matter what gains these students are making yearly. Large urban schools are most vulnerable.

Another issue that has surfaced with high-stakes testing is the increase in the high-school drop-out rate. Interestingly, students who have not done well on these tests eventually drop out of school. The consensus among the authors who contributed to this book is that the extensive standardized testing hurts more than the drop-out rate. Teaching to the test (so that students can pass, so that schools are not labeled “failing,” so that good teachers can keep their jobs) severely narrows the curriculum. There is less discussion, less critical thinking, and fewer school experiences. It’s not fun to teach and it is certainly not fun for the students. More than one student has come to school asking, “What kind of test do we have today?”

George Wood, one of the seven contributors to Many Children Left Behind, is a high-school principal married to a kindergarten teacher. He says that changing this law “will require a strategy that shows the progress of the standards and testing agenda and at the same time offers ways to focus on helping schools, especially those that serve our most vulnerable children.” He has these suggestions for a national campaign:

• Testing Moratorium – Call for a national or state-by-state moratorium on high-stakes testing. Tests need to have predictive value and should be linked to predicting success after school.
• Assessment of School Health – A measure of school health would show if children are engaged using their minds, and are “even happy”. It would also use samples of student work and academic achievement.
• Targeted Intervention – “We should begin by demanding that funding for our schools be equalized. Additional funds should flow to schools that serve our most needy students.

Wood contends that many supporters of NCLB have (had) good intentions. The one-size fits all, blame-and-shame agenda does nothing to help our schools and our children.

Monty Neill was another contributing author and he has these specific suggestions for helping our schools. He bases them all on “authentic accountability:”

• Shared Vision and Goals – Community goals should prioritize what is important in both academics and school life.
• Adequate Resources Used Well – Hire good teachers; spend money on professional development; and provide books, technology, and supplies in a comfortable, clean environment. Children who need more should be provided with more.
• Participation and Democracy – Teachers, parents, and administrators must play key roles in planning goals and expectations and appropriate ways to evaluate them.
• Prioritizing Goals – Standardized testing might be the easiest way to measure but improving the climate and culture in schools is more important.
• Multiple Forms of Evidence – Standardized tests do identify some educational problems but “accountability requires the use of both qualitative and quantitative evidence.” And the focus of all this assessment should be to improve instruction.
• Inclusion – Accountability and assessment should include all children but in-school and out-of-school factors should also be considered.
• Improvement – Schools and districts must implement procedures to “guide decision making” to improve the quality of schools and learning.
• Equity – All the measures established must focus on overcoming “the consequences of poverty and racism.”
• Balance – We should expect “equitable uses” of resources and a sound basis for educational reform.
• Intervention – “Firing teachers or changing governance are not paths to meaningful improvement. Intervention should focus on factors that can produce powerful improvement, such as rich professional development, stronger parent involvement, and high-quality classroom assessment.”

All this takes time but some states have begun implementing alternative forms of assessment and are minimizing the role of state standardized testing. Indiana and other states should follow and establish reasonable criteria that is good for students and truly will improve the quality of our schools.

# # #

Book Review: The Shame of the Nation

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol

Reviewed by Susie Berry

Jonathon Kozol has been writing about education and schools (particularly schools that support children of poverty) for more than 40 years. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America provides compelling evidence that the poorest children in this country are being short-changed. For example when this book was written (2005), the amount of spending per pupil in Detroit was $9,576 compared to $12,825 per pupil in nearby, suburban, Bloomfield Hills. Kozol describes the horrible conditions of many schools in New York – mold, bugs, collapsing ceilings, and severe overcrowding. He quoted a letter from a child named Alliyah (an eight-year old from the Bronx) who said, “We do not have the things you have. You have clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks. You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing … Can you help us?”

While making observations about the poor physical conditions of so many of these schools – and often comparing these conditions to the much better conditions of the schools in the suburbs, Kozol described teachers who were striving to do their best with kids despite all these obstacles. The descriptions of activities in classrooms and the high expectations of so many principals and teachers were heart warming. Kozol’s theme seemed to be that many principals and teachers are doing their best to be good teachers despite disturbing conditions.

Kozol and others (quoted in the book) are concerned about the discrepancies in money spent and the increase in “prescribed lessons” (He used “Success For All” as an example.) in the schools with underprivileged children. He compared that with more creative and joyful lessons in the schools with higher test scores. He sees a shift; schools are becoming segregated again – almost a case of “haves” and “have nots.” He quoted Congressman John Lewis (who was born to a family of sharecroppers in Pike County, Alabama) who spoke about the dismantling of court-ordered integration and the recent movement toward school vouchers. Lewis says that all these changes are leading us to “turn away from one another” and to “retreat into separate tribes.” This, contends Kozol, is “the shame of the nation.”

# # #

Book Review: Learning on Other People's Kids: Becoming a Teach for America Teacher

This is from the blog, A Teacher's Fight

Reviewed by Eileen Doherty

Book Review: Learning on Other People's Kids by Barbara Torre Veltri

I just finished reading a book about Teach for America called Learning on Other People's Kids: Becoming a Teach for America Teacher by Barbara Torre Veltri. After countless numbers of conversations about whether or not TFA is good for schools and students, I decided that I better arm myself with some factual information since I don't want to unnecessarily discredit the organization. Here are a few of my thoughts from reading this book.

One only needs a little bit of common sense to realize that placing a TFA teacher, who only has about 5 weeks of training, into an urban classroom could be a recipe for disaster. Most TFA teachers have very little to no experience working with children or being in an urban environment. The original intention of TFA was to help urban or rural districts that had a difficult time finding and placing teachers in some of the most challenging schools by taking recent college graduates, putting them through teacher training during the summer, and placing them into these classrooms for at least 2 years. I can agree that using TFA teachers is better than putting uncertified, long-term substitutes into classrooms, but TFA has transformed into what I believe is a money-making business that ultimately preys on our neediest students.

"...many core members noted that they were "teaching out-of-field" (e.g., an English major teaching eighth-grade math). More serious questions surfaced with respect to the nearly 20% of TFA novices who were assigned to teach special education with no prior training or clinical exposure to special education classrooms."

The fact that TFA teachers were being placed in special education classrooms was a shock to me. Isn't this illegal? I figure that the only way schools would get away with this "crime" is if parents of special education students were not aware of their rights or that the teacher did not hold a special education license. This is just unconscionable.

Much of the book looks at how TFA teachers learn to be teachers. Unlike traditionally trained teachers who can refer to their combined practicum and student teaching experiences when they need to figure out what and how to teach, TFA novices can only rely on their limited group teaching experience from Summer Institute and their own experiences as students. When a TFA teacher enters the classroom, they have had no experience with running a classroom by themselves. The number of mistakes and mismanagement errors will be high and the students will be the ones waiting for their "teacher" to get things figured out. They are learning on other people's children.

Personally, I don't think poorly of the individual TFA teachers. The organization put them in an unfair situation in which they do not fully understand the true difficulty of the job or how they are ultimately giving children less than what they deserve. They also have to live up to some insanely demanding expectations. Corp members are expected to take on additional leadership responsibilities in schools like sponsoring clubs and writing grants. They also are required to attend corp meetings and attend university classes. Then there is the pressure to create results and make TFA look good. They have a certain type of allegiance to the organization that has to be maintained.

"It troubles me that, regardless of my good intentions, I am contributing to the cycle of inconsistency present in my school....

But, as I try to accomplish these goals, however, I am learning to be a teacher. Herein lies the struggle. My students need experienced teachers who know what works and can implement it effectively. Instead, they have me, and though I am learning quickly, I am still learning on them, experimenting on them, working on their time."

"I went through 4 years at Harvard and nothing was as hard as this."

The most troubling part of Teach for America is that there have been many corp members who have tried to speak up about problems and suggest ways to strengthen the educational foundations and provide better support to their members, but very little has changed. "Teach for America, Inc. spends three times as much on marketing and expansion, as it does on training." Any organization that does not address educational issues cannot claim to be putting students or schools first.

Some corp members have described TFA as acting like a cult. If you are not all for it, then you are made to feel that you are a bad person. There is a strange parallel between this organization mentality and the large charter school chains like Imagine Schools. I'll save that comparison for another blog post.

Overall, this book is worth reading to really understand how TFA harms schools and children. Veltri does a nice job of weaving research and anecdotes throughout the book. I also found it quite fascinating to look at TFA's tax forms and the example of their contract with a particular school district. My only criticism is that it gets a little repetitive with some of the ideas.

Book Review: What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten?

What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten? by Susan Ohanian

Reviewed by Susie Berry

What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten? is not just for parents and teachers of young children. It is for anyone concerned about the radical changes happening in the public schools (charters, vouchers, high-stakes testing, for example) in Indiana and across the country. While reading I marked (with my little book darts) many pertinent quotes from Ohanian and other educators, parents, and even students. Here are just a few of the quotes I “darted”:

From David Elkind, The Hurried Child: “International research shows that pushing children to read early causes later reading problems.”

From Lucy Haab, a longtime kindergarten teacher: “I am tired of the attitude that seems to serve politicians … if children have a difficult time learning something at age five, let’s ask them to learn it at age three.”

From Molly Ivins, who wrote about an excellent teacher she knows in Arizona: This teacher protested when legislators passed a law saying the only method that can be used to teach reading is phonics. She contends that phonics is a good way to teach reading but is certainly not the only way. She said, “There is not a single teacher in the Arizona Legislature. Why are they telling me how to do my job?” This teacher felt so strongly she resigned.

From Professor Stephen Krashen: He stated that in 2001 “Chicago spent $29 million in an attempt to boost test scores of 29,000 students. There might be an easier way,” suggests Krashen. “The time spent on reading for pleasure has a stronger impact on increasing reading test scores, and $29 million buys a lot of books.”

Annalise Schantz was the valedictorian of a high school class in Massachusetts (where high-stakes testing was encouraged by the governor). This was part of Schantz’s address to students, parents, administrators, and a few elected officials: She asked what separated her “from two, 50, or 120?” She said the “assigned numbers reflect nothing about the true character of an individual. Nothing about personality. Nothing about desire or will. Nothing about values or morals. Nothing about intelligence. Nothing about creativity. Nothing about heart.”

On testing, Ohanian says, “The notion that subjecting an eight-year old to a
17-hour test to prove that the state has standards is a colossal fraud as well as child abuse.”

Ohanian contends that schools should not be labeled based on test scores. She is afraid that testing is controlling the curriculum and worries about the fairness of the questions asked our students. Interestingly, even in 2002, when this book was written, parents were beginning to take stands on all the testing. Ohanian referenced parents in California, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts. A California parent uses the slogan “High stakes are for tomatoes.”

Our voices need to be heard. Legislatures in our state need to be informed by teachers, administrators, and parents. We know what is best for our children; if the legislators don’t know how we feel we need to inform them.

I read this book and wrote this review before the Diane Ravitch speech in Fort Wayne March 13. It is noteworthy that the compelling research Ravitch cited is so similar to what Ohanian referenced in this book.

~ ~ ~

Book Review: Feel-Bad Education: And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling

Feel-Bad Education: And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling by Alfie Kohn.

Reviewed by Susie Berry

Feel-Bad Education: And Other Contrarian Essays on Children and Schooling is Alfie Kohn’s newest book; he has written eleven others. It is a collection of nineteen essays on children and schooling.

Kohn hits the controversial topics of homework, grades, and standardized tests. One of his essays discusses learning, motivation, and creating non-readers. Another essay presents data about setting up wellness programs and the financial incentives to promote these programs. He compares research with these wellness programs and the motivations used with children in our schools. He questions the use of rewards in both places.

This book will cause you to rethink your beliefs, especially ideas about the use of rewards and punishments. These nineteen essays make this a very readable book for parents, educators, and those key leaders who make so many decisions pertaining to our children.

~ ~ ~

Book Review: The Death and Life of the Great American School System

The Death and Life of the American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch.

Reviewed by Susie Berry

The Death and Life of the American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education was written by Diane Ravitch in 2011. Dr. Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is the featured speaker on March 13 at the Omnibus Lecture Series at IPFW.

In this book, Ravitch reviews the No Child Left Behind legislation which promised
a “new era of high standards, testing, and accountability in which not a single child would be overlooked”. Five years after this legislation was enacted, a panel of scholars and representatives from a conservative think tank presented evidence that none of the remedies advocated in NCLB were making a difference. According to Ravitch, choosing your child’s school also did not improve test scores. The information learned that day and the thorough research conducted after that presentation were really the basis for Ravitch’s change in thinking and the motivation for writing this book.

Ravitch addresses the newest information about charter schools, vouchers, the standards movement, accountability, and the “billionaire boys’ club”. She questions how corporate leaders – and many politicians – can write blanket prescriptions for restructuring schools without consulting educators.

The author’s research also indicates that the real problem facing schools is poverty and advocates for family involvement in education from an early age.

Based on Ravitch’s thorough research and keen insight into the educational needs of students, teachers, and families, her presentation on March 13 will surely impress.

~ ~ ~