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0|0|0|||||NCLB%3A First graders will be left behind-PART I|alexb||12:32:53|02/04/2005|%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0A From Substance%2C September-December%2C 2004%2C p. 24%2C20.21. Article was %0D%0Atyped from the original article in Substance and proof read.%0D%0A------------------------------------------%0D%0ATHIS IS PART I OF TWO PARTS.%0D%0A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0AToday%27s first graders%3A The Children No Child Left Behind will Leave Behind%0D%0A%0D%0ABy Ken Goodman%0D%0A%0D%0A%5BKenneth S. Goodman%2C one of the world%27s foremost authorities on how %0D%0Achildren learn to read%2C is Professor Emeritus%2C Language%2C Reading and %0D%0ACulture%2C University of Arizona. This article was sent to Substance %0D%0AOctober 18%2C 2004. %5D%0D%0A%0D%0AParents of children starting first grade this year may not be ready %0D%0Afor what the No Child Left Behind law has in store for their children %0D%0Aover the next ten years. Beginning first graders are or will shortly %0D%0Abe six years old.%0D%0A%0D%0AThis federal law reaches its full effects in 2014 when these children %0D%0Abecome 16%2C the age in most states when students can legally leave %0D%0Aschool. During those years under NCLB their scores on a single test %0D%0Awill dominate their school experience. Under NCLB the federal %0D%0Agovernment requires%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%2A Every state must test all pupils in all schools in reading and math %0D%0Aand starting in 2007-8 in science. The state must set a proficiency %0D%0Alevel for the test.%0D%0A%2A Each school must %22disaggregate%22 pupils into a number of sub-groups. %0D%0ACriteria include race%2C ethnic group%2C income level%2C second language %0D%0Alearners and various categories of special education. Pupils maybe in %0D%0Amore than one group%2C for example%2C Black%2C Hispanic and poor.%0D%0A%2A 95%25 of the pupils in each group must take the test or the school is %0D%0Alabeled failing%0D%0A%2A Every sub-group of pupils is expected to make %22Adequate Yearly %0D%0AProgress%22 each year or the school is failing.%0D%0A%2A If a local school district has one failing school it is labeled a %0D%0Afailing district.%0D%0A%2A In the first year at least 20%25 of each group must have scores at or %0D%0Aabove the proficiency score for the school to meet the requirement of %0D%0Aadequate yearly progress.%0D%0A%2A Each state must set successively higher requirements each year for %0D%0Athe percent of each group scoring proficient to meet AYP%0D%0A%2A And in 2014%2C when this year%27s first graders are legally able to %0D%0Aleave school in most states%2C 100%25 of students in all groups must %0D%0Ascore at the proficient level in reading%2C math and science on an %0D%0Aapproved test. In Lake Wobegone%2C Garrison Keillor%27s mythical %0D%0AMinnesota town%2C all the children are above average. Under NCLB%2C by %0D%0A2014 all children must be scoring proficient%2C a term which now %0D%0Aapplies to the top 20%25 of all those taking the test. Even those most %0D%0Aseverely disabled must miraculously achieve this unreachable score.%0D%0A%0D%0AMandated Punishments under NCLB%0D%0A%0D%0ANCLB is a highly punitive law. It provides for severe punishments for %0D%0Afailing schools%2C school districts and even states.%0D%0A%0D%0ASchool punishments. If a school is failing for more than two years %0D%0Athe school district is%3A required to permit parents to request %0D%0Atransfer of their children to a non-failing school in the district at %0D%0Adistrict expense. Parents of kids in failing schools may also request %0D%0Athe school district to provide private tutoring at district expense. %0D%0AIf the school continues to fail AYP%2C drastic measures are required %0D%0Aincluding reopening as a public charter school%3B replacing all or most %0D%0Aof the staff %28which may include the principal%29%3B making a contract for %0D%0Aoperation of the public school by a %22public or private entity%22%3B or %0D%0Atakeover by the state.%0D%0A%0D%0ASchool District Punishments%0D%0A%0D%0AStates are also required to punish failing school districts under %0D%0ANCLB. The law requires%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%281%29 deferring programmatic funds or reducing administrative funds%3B%0D%0A%282%29 instituting and fully implementing a new curriculum%2C including %0D%0Aproviding appropriate professional development based on %0D%0Ascientifically based research%3B%0D%0A%283%29 replacing district personnel%3B%0D%0A%284%29 removing particular schools from local jurisdiction%2C establishing %0D%0Aalternative arrangements for such schools%27 public governance and %0D%0Asupervision%3B and%0D%0A%285%29 appointing a receiver or trustee to administer LEA affairs in %0D%0Aplace of the superintendent and school board.%0D%0A%0D%0AUnder NCLB what controls a child%27s school experience passes from the %0D%0Ateacher and the local school board to bureaucrats in Washington. If %0D%0Athe law is allowed to remain in place as it is currently being %0D%0Aimplemented until it reaches its full effect in 2014 many of today%27s %0D%0Afirst graders will be left behind or left out.%0D%0A%0D%0AHere%27s what the law will do to the school careers of this year%27s first graders.%0D%0A%0D%0A%2AA third of the schools the beginners enter this year across the %0D%0Acountry have already been labeled as failing%2C many for two years %0D%0Awhich means they are under penalties.%0D%0A%2AFirst graders will be quickly tested and sorted according to their %0D%0Alikelihood of failing in reading%2C writing and math. Many will have %0D%0Aalready been tested and classified in kindergarten.%0D%0A%2AMuch of the time in the first grade will be spent on specific %0D%0Apractice for the tests. There will be little or no art%2C music%2C social %0D%0Astudies and play.%0D%0A%2AMany first graders are likely to rebel at going to school and cry or %0D%0Afall asleep in school.%0D%0A%2AChildren will encounter teachers desperately trying to meet the %0D%0Aneeds of their students while under severe constraints to teach to %0D%0Athe tests and follow a narrow methodology.%0D%0A%2AStarting 2005-6%2C all states will be required to test all children in %0D%0Athird to eighth grade.%0D%0A%2AIn second grade next year some children will be failed to keep them %0D%0Afrom pulling down school scores in the third grade.%0D%0A%2AMany of this year%27s first graders will fail a grade before they %0D%0Areach middle school.%0D%0A%2ATwo-thirds or more of the middle schools will have been labeled %0D%0Afailing one or more years by the time this year%27s first graders get %0D%0Athere.%0D%0A%2AMany dedicated and experienced middle school teachers will have %0D%0Amoved to primary grades or left teaching because they are judged %0D%0Aunqualified under NCLB to teach subjects in which they lack a degree.%0D%0A%2AThe curriculum in their middle school years will focus even more on %0D%0Apreparation for tests and content getting the children ready for high %0D%0Aschool.%0D%0A%2AA third or more of this year%27s first graders will have failed one or %0D%0Amore grades before they finish middle school.%0D%0A%2AThis is likely to include disproportionate numbers of poor children%2C %0D%0Aimmigrants and those of color.%0D%0A%2ABy the time this year%27s first graders finish middle school it is %0D%0Alikely that they will have attended a school under severe punishment %0D%0Athat includes narrowing the curriculum%2C replacing the entire faculty %0D%0Aand administrators or turning the school over to a private company.%0D%0A%2AMiddle school classes will include substantial numbers of unhappy%2C %0D%0Asullen%2C overage pupils.%0D%0A%2AMany children will have been suspended or expelled before they %0D%0Afinish middle school.%0D%0A%2ASpecial education and second language learners may become so old in %0D%0Amiddle school that they may drop out without finishing 8th grade.%0D%0A%2AThere is little chance this year%27s first graders will attend a high %0D%0Aschool not labeled as failing.%0D%0A%2AHigh Schools will have curtailed or eliminated music%2C art%2C physical %0D%0Aeducation%2C and vocational programs.%0D%0A%2ANo pass no play rules will keep many students out of sports%2C bands%2C %0D%0Aperforming arts%2C and club and special interest activities.%0D%0A%2AMany experienced high school teachers will have left teaching %0D%0Abecause they are labeled unqualified by NCLB or because they oppose %0D%0Athe restrictions on their teaching in the law.%0D%0A%2AThose replacing them will have degrees or have passed a test in the %0D%0Asubjects they teach but have little professional education.%0D%0A%2AIn high school there will be many severe discipline problems and an %0D%0Aincrease in suspensions and expulsions.%0D%0A%2ARural high schools will be forced to drop subjects because of a lack %0D%0Aof qualified teachers under NCLB.%0D%0A%2ASome rural schools may close altogether requiring students to be %0D%0Atransported long distances to and from school.%0D%0A%2AHalf or more of today%27s first graders will leave school before they %0D%0Agraduate high school depending on the community. Many will not even %0D%0Aget through tenth grade.%0D%0A%2ABy 2014 many of today%27s first graders%2C particularly in cities and %0D%0Asuburbs will be attending schools run by for-profit corporations. %0D%0APrivate schools of highly variable quality will mushroom in middle %0D%0Aand upper income communities.%0D%0A%2AApplication of NCLB to these schools and to charter schools will %0D%0Avary from state to state.%0D%0A%2AFunds for the remaining public schools will be greatly diminished as %0D%0Avoucher systems are enacted which divert funds to private schools.%0D%0A%0D%0AHow will NCLB produce such dismal results%3F%0D%0A%0D%0ANCLB has changed first grade more than any other grade and the %0D%0Achanges will become more universal as the laws provisions become more %0D%0Acontrolling each year. The law dictates how reading%2C writing and math %0D%0Aare taught and tested. Each state must have a proposal approved by %0D%0Abureaucrats in Washington D.C. who may reject methods%2C materials and %0D%0Acurriculum not endorsed as %22evidence based%22 and who may order changes %0D%0Awhich are then imposed by the state on local schools. This year Texas %0D%0Ais threatened with losing their NCLB money because they don%27t yet %0D%0Ahave an approved plan.%0D%0A%0D%0AUnder NCLB%2C state authorities are told which materials%2C which tests %0D%0Aand which methods their teachers may use. This year%27s first graders %0D%0Aare more likely to spend much of their school day on phonics %0D%0Aexercises and preparations for tests on reading skills with little %0D%0Atime for reading stories and children%27s books. Writing instruction is %0D%0Alikely to be spelling%2C handwriting and grammar exercises with little %0D%0Atime for writing stories and written expression.%0D%0A%0D%0AApproved state plans must provide for testing children in %0D%0Akindergarten or early first grade with mandated quick tests scored by %0D%0Athe test producer. An example is the Dibels.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn New Mexico the teachers enter responses on a palm pilot which %0D%0Asends the answers to the state which then passes them on to the %0D%0Acompany for scoring the Dibels in Oregon. What comes back is a list %0D%0Aof first graders labeled in terms of their chance of failure. The %0D%0Alist dictates to the teacher how to group the pupils for instruction.%0D%0A%0D%0AWith NCLB%27s heavy focus on reading%2C writing and math%2C little time in %0D%0Athe first grade is available for social studies%2C music%2C art and %0D%0Aphysical education. Science is minimal. Even recess is being %0D%0Aeliminated in some schools to give more time to prepare for the %0D%0Atests. Teachers are given little discretion over how to deal with %0D%0Adifferences in learners since all must pass the same tests at the %0D%0Asame levels. That means that children who pull down the group and %0D%0Acan%27t keep up or can%27t get a high enough score on the tests will be %0D%0Aforced to repeat the grade and eventually forced out of school.%0D%0A-------------------------------%0D%0APart II to follow shortly.%0D%0A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A%0D%0A