The No Child Left Behind Act needs to be reexamined. It has left in its wake children who are uninspired and teachers who are demoralized. We must get back on track and restore the joy to learning.
While everyone agrees that we want excellence in education for our children, and accountability is necessary whenever public dollars are being spent, the Draconian measures required of No Child Left Behind are destroying learning. The educational environment created when teachers are forced to teach to a test and districts are held hostage by standardized test scores is tense and cheerless. More importantly, it thwarts innovation and discovery and deadens the learning experience. Learning should be a joy; not drudgery. If we want children to value learning, we cannot strip it of it's inherent excitement. As citizens in a democracy, we must also be wary of producing lock-step automatons that can only parrot prescribed information. In our everchanging society we're going to need innovative thinkers capable of unique solutions. With a public school system that doesn't foster critical thinking, where will we find them?
|
