Effects of NCLB

Here in AZ they will be testing Science and I think Social Studies this year.  How do we cut them out now?  I have never cut them from my schedule.  However, my 2 team members both did last year.  They said they couldn't quite get to it with the extra reading and writing they were doing.  Really?  I use Social Studies to teach some of my writing.  Science too.  Isn't it odd that my class scored just as high and higher in all areas of AIMS as they did?  I bet they would have out stripped them if we had taken social studies or science.

Here in South Carolina, our students are tested in Science and Social Studies as well as Language and Math. Although we are stretched for time too, at my school these subjects are taught daily, often through integration with other subjects. We have been told by our district that we must spend a certain number of minutes in the daily schedule to teach all subjects, but with related arts, recess, and lunch, it's almost impossible to limit the teaching of science and social studies to the time they tell us. That's why we have no choice but to figure out ways to integrate into our math and language arts blocks.

Also, our state has mandated that all students must spend at least 90 minutes per week in P.E. In a school of 750 students and only 2 P.E. teachers, it's been tough on those teachers to manage all of it, but they do.

Here in South Carolina, our students are tested in Science and Social Studies as well as Language and Math. Although we are stretched for time too, at my school these subjects are taught daily, often through integration with other subjects. We have been told by our district that we must spend a certain number of minutes in the daily schedule to teach all subjects, but with related arts, recess, and lunch, it's almost impossible to limit the teaching of science and social studies to the time they tell us. That's why we have no choice but to figure out ways to integrate into our math and language arts blocks.

Also, our state has mandated that all students must spend at least 90 minutes per week in P.E. In a school of 750 students and only 2 P.E. teachers, it's been tough on those teachers to manage all of it, but they do.

Reading and writing are fundamental to ALL subject areas and all subjects can be used to reinforce basic skills. I use Social Studies to introduce and expand on expository writing.  Our science teacher has the students complete a 1-2 page research paper.  A math teacher I know has her students write her a standard 5 paragraph essay once a semester and she makes grammar and spelling count.  I have a math worksheet for the effects of the Black Plauge on the population of Medieval Europe.

Focusing on any one or two aspects of education to the exclusion of all others is ridiculous and serves no one well.  Maybe the supporters of NCLB should read Plato's Republic.

NCLB has dropped standards to a lower level instead of having true accountability.  The one-size-fits-all, factory model has meant the exclusion of the larger issue: that education is meant to help people to think well about life.  Excercise in PE helps the brain develop.  Art and creativity reach multiple modalities which lead to a higher level of cognitive development.  Here in Phoenix, the highest scores come from a School for the Arts, which is a charter school geared toward fine arts.

Like Mr. W, I think people need to read more Plato.  I would argue that they should read Aristotle's idea of the unity of virtues and the need for holistic education.  As we realize the factory model is outdated, the answer might lie be found in recovering what we lost (from the ancients) rather than creating a newly improved factory.  

The problem is that those who make up these and support mandates, such as NCLB, are not in classrooms and don't really understand brain research and what teaching methods would be most beneficial to our students.  They have the mindset that test scores are all that matter and their only goal is to increase those test scores.  As long as we have unenlightened politicians involved in dictating policies for education, there will not be a dramatic change.

Write on!  I also agree that we have lowered our standard of teaching due to test scores.  20 years ago, we took the ITBS and school scores didn't matter as much as individual scores.  The parents understood what they ment and how to read the sheet. Now, with AIMS I keep having parents ask me what it means to Meet the Standard.  What is the standard?  They don't know.  I don't know either but I am happy to have students meet it.

I use writing in other areas of study simply because I have always felt that it was important to show students that subjects are not exclusive.  They are interactive.  The more that the BIG guys try to tell us what to do, the  more confusion we are getting.  I simply love the fact that non-educators are telling educators (who are trained and have studied to get there) how to teach and what to expect from their teaching.

For expample:  ELL kids have to take the test.  It can be read to them but not translated.  If you know anything about ELL you know that it takes about 7 years for them to learn school language and become proficient.  But, they take the test the first year and are expected to pass?  Somebody give Bush a spelling test in Greek and see if he can pass.

I don't know that his test would have to be in Greek for him not to pass....I digress from what I really came on to say. I'm worried about my students

test scores since this will be my first year. I know managing time will be one of my biggest challenges- getting to all the necessary subjects. I can't imagine cutting any of them. Life is so intertwined, and I think school is too. Subjects work better when not taught in isolation.

In our overseas American school, due to the fact that students have classes in English, Arabic, and in a third European language, we have less time already than in America for studying subjects in English.

I've taught Grade 3 for about eight years now.  One thing I have come to see is that many of the goals of teaching Reading and Science are the same (of course there are some additional goals in teaching science, but basically most science in elementary school is another form of reading that just has a different vocabulary).  So I tend to take the same approach in both subjects, preparing worksheets in science to help kids get more out of their reading, studying vocabulary with them first, as we pass concrete examples around the room (such as of rocks we are talking about).  I found that most students who THINK they don't do well in science are actually having a READING and VOCABULARY problem.  Working with them on their READING COMPREHENSION skills in science, I can get most students up to having A's and B's in Science on their report cards, and we do pretty advanced science in our class.

It's too bad that in America, drill work seems to be taking precedence over the interesting, even if challenging parts of the curriculum.  In our school, we don't have all this yearly testing.  But if students have a "D" in either reading or math, they have to repeat and the parents know it.  

Eileen

Dedicated Elementary Teacher Overseas

elementaryteacher.wordpress.com