Joe McConda on Technology, Education, and Culture

I just read this post on Education Wonks that posts George Will’s article for tomorrow’s issue of the Washington Post. It made me think of a conversation during one of our class chats early in the semester. Nate was talking about how states would come out ahead if they just refused the federal money for NCLB and did not administer all the tests that are supposed to measure adequate yearly progress. It was the first time I had thought about that and wondered if states could really do that. We have all at one point or another this semester talked about the fact that there is too much emphasis on testing.

From the article…Representative Scott Garrett from New Jersey proposes….

He proposes to allow states to opt out from under NCLB’s mandates and regulations and to give residents of those states tax credits equal to the portion of their taxes their state would have received back in federal funds for K-12 education.

I think this is a very interesting proposal especially in light of our discussion.

It’s an interesting article and worth reading.

Our group has a goal of getting our final project (a tutorial) completed by Monday or Tuesday.  It’s starting to shape up pretty well, I think.  Lee has facilitated much of what we’ve done and has pulled it all together very nicely.  As has been the case with everything in this class, I have learned a lot by doing this tutorial.  I learned how to do screen shots and how to use paint.  I learned some things by trial and error and some other things from asking different people.  When we first started this capstone project, I was skeptical that “group” work could be done from such a distance.  I was wrong.  We met in Lee’s office of Tappin In a few times, have e-mailed, and also talked on IM.  I really think the group concept has worked better than groups I’ve been in in face to face classes.  It’s pretty remarkable, really.  As the semester is ending and I think back to the beginning when everything seemed so overwhelming, it seems like a long time ago.

I agree that so much emphasis is placed on NCLB that schools have just learned how to play the game. When schools don’t learn how to play the game, the powers that be will eventually change the rules or change the test. Many schools are now facing sanctions because of NCLB.  In the press release from Margaret Spellings, she mentions the NAEP results as being good, but doesn’t say how they compare to the PIRLS.

Reading is critical.  It is obvious that content doesn’t really matter that much.  Sure, there is a body of knowledge that everyone should know, but knowledge is changing so rapidly and things that are essential today, may not be tomorrow.  But reading, as we all know, is the key to everything else.  Literacy is essential for our students to achieve anything else.  Okay, I know I’m stating the obvious, here.  It just seems to me, that instead of changing the test, let’s be consistent and have an assessment that is consistent throughout the country.