The law that is known as "No Child Left Behind'' is the primary statute governing the federal government's role in education. First passed during the Johnson administration as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it was rebranded as part of its last major overhaul in 2001, when Democrats joined with President George W. Bush to make its focus the use of standardized test scores in schools, particularly those serving minority students.
The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of what became President Bush's signature education law, calling for broad changes in how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as for the elimination of the law's 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Mr. Bush made education reform a major plank in his domestic platform, saying that he wanted especially to end the "soft bigotry'' of low expectations for minority students. The test-based system of accountability he proposed appealed to many Republicans, but the vastly increased role for the federal government in an arena traditionally left to the states ran into opposition from conservatives. Many civil-rights groups rallied to the cause of the "No Child Left Behind'' bill, as it was by then called, and with the help of some leading Democrats, notably Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the bill became law -- and Mr. Bush's only solidly bipartisan domestic achievement prior to the Sept. 11th attacks.
The current law calls for every state to set standards in reading and math, and for every student to be proficient at those subjects by 2014. Students in grades 3 through 8 are tested yearly, and reports are issued as to whether schools are making "adequate yearly progress'' toward that goal. The scores of groups like minorities, disabled and non-English speaking students are broken out separately. Schools that fail to make the required annual progress, whether overall or for subgroups, face a mounting scale of sanctions, from being required to provide tutoring to students in poor-performing schools to the threat of state takeovers or the shutting down of individual schools.
But has the "No Child Left Behind" act been a solution or a crunch on a system already crippled? And what are the challenges that teachers face in the current era of teaching? The New York Times article "Building a Better Teacher" by Elizabeth Green touches on these points and I encourage you all to check it out at the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?emc=eta1
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
BEN STILLER Goes all Avatar at the Oscars
Stiller presented the Best Makeup award in blue facepaint, braids, and pointy ears, speaking (at length) in Na'vi, before telling Avatar director James Cameron, ''I see you, I want to plug my tail, my braid, into your dragon.'' Stiller said he considered donning Spock ears to present the award (a nod to fellow nominee Star Trek), but decided that would be ''too nerdy.'' Right.
A ''KANYE MOMENT'' at the Oscars
Roger Ross Williams, director of Best Documentary Short Subject winner Music by Prudence, was midway through his acceptance speech when Elinor Burkett, a journalist who worked on the film but left after creative differences (according to Salon) ''pulled a Kanye,'' bulldozing her way on stage and taking the mic. ''Let the woman talk. Isn't that the classic thing?'' Burkett said.
Alice # 1 at the Box Office - Now that's a Wonderland!
First there was James Cameron's Avatar knocking it's way to box office gold and this time the records belong to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The 3-D spectacle starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter earned an estimated $116.3 million, the highest grossing weekend ever for a spring release. Not only that, but IMAX– which pulled Avatar from all its screens in exchange for Alice–was rewarded handsomely with its highest weekend gross ever, $11.9 million in only 188 theaters. (IMAX’s 9 additional theaters plus Alice’s shorter run time gave the company the added boost over its Avatar numbers.) If there was even a question as to whether or not 3-D was here to stay, it’s now officially been answered. Avatar was not an anomaly. In fact, what it did was expand the marketplace to all those moviegoers that were nonbelievers in the 3-D technology. They tested it out with Avatar, were convinced of the stunning visuals, and they are now back for more. In fact, IMAX alone sold out every seat they had for the entire weekend. Disney counts 65% of its weekend gross on Alice from 3-D screenings.
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