The "No Child Left Behind" law turns 10 years old

I read this quote from a teacher printed in Time magazine: "No Child Left Behind never changed how I taught. I know what my kids need." It made me think that it would be a great to collect from as many teachers' as possible opinions and wisdom and store it all in one place (like a gigantic graffiti wall!) in order to inform  public opinion and change public policy if it needs to be changed. The quote is from Bridget Cole, a fourth grade teacher from Colorado.  She said it in response to the Obama Administration freeing 10 states from some of the landmark education law's toughest requirements.

A few years ago I was motivated to write a letter to the Secretary of Education and to California's State Superintendent suggesting we only give our students the statewide tests mandated by "No Child Left Behind" every other year or every third year. 

Here is part of the letter:  The yearly "No Child Left Behind" testing has had more negative than positive effects. As a parent, I see that the focus has made learning workbook centered, repetitive, superficial, disconnected, disengaging and dull.  Teaching and learning should be engaging, theme based and designed to encourage deeper thinking and lifelong learning.  Keep the curiosity alive! (That exclamation I didn't have in the original letter.  I was making a reference to a great speech by Jessie Jackson, that I have on audio tape, "Keep Hope Alive."

As a teacher, I remember what teaching was like before "No Child Left Behind" testing.  The focus on testing has taken a lot of creativity and enjoyment out of the work day.  Let's give these tests every other year or every third year!

A math teacher in Bangladesh makes math a "joyful priority"

I read in a magazine I get called Saudi Aramco World about a math teacher in Bangladesh who leads math education in his country. The article states:  "Since 2005, Muni Hasan has led Bangladesh's students in the International Mathematics Olympiad and is the leading creative force revitalizing the nation's approach to math education. He does this by using a network of community-building math festivals, daily newspaper columns, teacher training and new textbooks that emphasize exploration and questioning rather than rote memorization."

The newspaper column about math is a great idea.  That can be done here or where you are. I noticed a science column in our local weekly. Smart idea.

I remember as a kid seeing textbooks in Germany that were paperback.  They were paperback because the students had to buy them. Many textbooks in the U.S. are usually not as great inside as the cover leads you to believe so I am usually skeptical when a teacher puts them out on display at back to school night. Then again, they make a colorful display because the covers are usually beautiful photographs and images.  We use a biology book here that weighs a lot and has a beautiful photograph of a grizzly bear on the cover but inside is disappointment. No lists of great experiments to do at home or at school, but there is an emphasis on hundreds of vocabulary words that bog down and kill interest in the subject. I remember a great Algebra book I had in 8th grade. It was unique enough to remember. It contained "Peanuts" cartoons and also M.C. Escher drawings.  My teacher made us love math and the book was fun to look at.  Out teacher gave us daily puzzles to solve and it was fun. 

Who wouldn't want to go to a community building math festival? Hurrah for Munir Hasan! He says: I have always dreamed of turning my country into a nation of world-class, advanced mathematicians and scientists."

Some people are know-it-alls when it comes to education

My mom would say in German: "Nie wird so viel ueber Education geredet, wie hier in Amerika."
(Nowhere else in the world is education more talked about than in the U.S.) My wise colleague says this is because everyone in the U.S. has had experience in the educational system and thinks they know something about it.