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October 18, 2007

NCLB: Local vs. Federal Control

Categories: EDUC 110

This article from the McClatchy News Bureau brings up several key points about No Child Left Behind:

All students are required to be "proficient" in reading and math by 2014.
Individual states select both the tests used to measure proficiency and the scores on those tests that count as "proficient." SC, for example, selected some hard reading tests. So when our scores came back very low, we readjusted the scores that count as "proficient."
NCLB represents the largest entanglement of the federal government with public education. The two have traditionally been distant, with localities bearing the fiscal burden and administrative responsibility for public schools. The local control vs. federal involvement tension has been around since the beginning of public schools.
Some see the variation between states as a bad thing and are thus pushing for a national battery of tests. The argument that follows from that is that it does not make sense to have a national battery of tests unless you have a national curriculum.

It seems reasonable that any such curriculum would be essentialist in nature. Then there is the thorny problem of who gets to decide what every American child needs to know.

Posted by Nakia at October 18, 2007 01:04 PM