Many Children Left Behind: Chapter 1 Summary

Many Children Left Behind
Chapter 1: “From ‘Separate but Equal’ to ‘No Child Left Behind’; The Collision of New Standards and Old Inequalities”
--Linda Darling-Hammond

Summary
No Child Left behind as it is currently implemented is more likely to harm than help, especially for the very students who are the targets of its aspirations: the poor, the special needs population, and children of color. It puts unmeetable test score targets on top of an existing unequal and underfunded system, complicating problems that already exist. It does not provide enough money to remedy the problems in the poorest schools, and it ignores other inputs that affect school quality.

Some have referred to the “diversity penalty” of NCLB, whereby schools with more diverse populations (and thus more subgroups) are more likely to be labeled inadequate due to testing failure in a single subgroup. Because of this requirement, most of our schools are likely to be labeled failures within a few years. High groups will hit ceilings, and low students will struggle on with still inadequate resources.

High stakes testing as mandated by NCLB is leading to a drop out / push out / disappearing student phenomenon. This is particularly true of those who score at the bottom of their subgroup. Students are leaving school without diplomas and without the skills to be able to join the economy—the “school to prison pipeline.”

NCLB must be amended to allow states more flexibility in performance assessment. Standardized tests need to be used diagnostically, not as punishment. Individual improvement formulas rather than school averages should be used. Goals for EC and LEP subgroups should be sensible but challenging (rather than impossible). Finally, the federal government must fully fund the mandate and offer extra help for failing schools.

We must also ensure that students are taught by qualified teachers. Many incentives would help with this, such as loan forgiveness to attract potential teachers to the profession, but mentoring and other programs designed to keep teachers in the profession are also essential.