No child left behind huh?

[Serenity4Ever]

I think it should be called "NO WHITE CHILD LEFT BEHIND".

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by Serenity4Ever

I think it should be called "NO WHITE CHILD LEFT BEHIND".

Right. for speaking the truth. Ask any educator who works in a district in the Urban Area and they'll tell you that NCLB is a joke. Where is the accoutablility for funding in order to meet all these federal mandates ? Once again, the Urban Districts are shortchanging again our Black Children and stiffling the learning process. NCLB=

Originally Posted by Blak

Tailoring the way they are taught material. There is nothing wrong with using different methods to teach kids.....it really should tailor to the student population. The best way to get the student to know a specific set of things laid out by the state is a good idea IMO. Not all student learn alike....and when they get to high school....not all students have come from elementary schools that got them to the level they should be at. You cant use the same methods with kids who went to good primary schools as ones who went to crappy ones. Schools are not created equal so the teaching styles are gonna have to differ at some point if those who are behind are to get a fair chance to be ready for college at age 18.

Blak, I agree with everything you've said thus far. However, the Urban Districts are running into delima particularly with implementing various and stragtegies due to lack of appropriate funding which was supposed to granted under the provisions in NCLB . So in essence, our Black children in the Urban Districts are being set aside.

[sailor wife]

NCLB is the worst thing to happen to the education world. Many great teachers are quitting because of the massive amount of paper work that lasts 24/7.

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by sailor wife

NCLB is the worst thing to happen to the education world. Many great teachers are quitting because of the massive amount of paper work that lasts 24/7.

You're correct. In addition to the other factors that I've stated, many educators have become dishearted with the profession and have moved on in some instances to University Faculty or Adminerstator Level positions.

You know we talk so much about education black people, and we have not yet defined what education should mean to us as a people. A good question we should ask ourselves is if the education we are getting is going to prepare us to solve the problems we have as a people. If our answer to that question is "no"! Which in all honesty it is the correct answer then is not getting more black men in college are nclb programs are any other "bullshit!" they come up with. The problem we must solve then is what kind of people must we produce to solve the problems we have to solve. What kind of educational experiences we must undergo to create the type of thinking and promote the values and morals that is needed in order for us to bring into reality the future we see for ourselves. Then we must ask what kinds of institutions must we create so that we can give these experiences to help mold the kind of people that is needed to solve the problems.

If a peoples education is not designed in away to solve their problems than the education is pointless. Ladies and gentlemen the major function of education is not to get "jobs!" It is a survival tool of a people. Black people especially in america have been conditioned to work for other people and solve their problems. We are actually educated just enough to solve other peoples problems. We actually go to school to prepare ourselves for this task.

I hope you guys don't get the wrong interpertation. I'm not saying going to college does not serve a purpose. I'm merely saying that it is not going to save black people from anything. We could have 100% of black men in college and we would still be in the same position we're in today. Also why do we still have this hope that white people are going to always have jobs waiting for us. One of the major problems they are facing as a people is the fact that they aren't able any longer to produce jobs for their own children.

Black people we must start asking ourselves some serious questions and we must start questioning everything that is put before us. The very same institutions we hold so high and put so much faith in. Are designed to destroy us and keep us from operating in our best interest. Yes I mean every institution the schools, church, government,family,and entertainment are all part of the same game. I don't care how good it makes us feel and how good it may sound. One key thing we must remember that and effective system of domination will make the suboridinate group feel good when they are operating outside of their best interest. And it will make you feel bad,dirty and guilty when you operate for your own best interest

[jimihaze]

Originally Posted by Serenity4Ever

I think it should be called "NO WHITE CHILD LEFT BEHIND".

You took the words right out from under my typing fingers. That is just what it is and should be called.

[sailor wife]

Originally Posted by MadameX

You're correct. In addition to the other factors that I've stated, many educators have become dishearted with the profession and have moved on in some instances to University Faculty or Adminerstator Level positions.

Exactly. And it's the kids who suffer the most. Have you heard anything about NCLB being outlawed? Maybe if a democrat president comes in, can he strike it down? Ive researched online, but I found nothing that mentioned an end to this atrocious law, I only found a bunch of horror stories...

[tiptop53]

Originally Posted by Vegence

Is it me or is the name misleading? I think what they meant to name it was "NO CHILD LEFT UNTESTED".

As a parent,
I find that this whole way of trying to "standardize" the way children are supposed to learn will ultimately lead to destruction in the school systems.
I am all for challenging our kids but the way they have this set up is more so that they can label the kids "challenged".

Something else

what happened to the funding that was supposed to come from the Bush Cabinet to help the teachers better prepare these children to take these PASS OR FAIL testing methods?

WTH ????

The funding went to fight the war.

Bush did this so he could look good and have folks thinking he was doing a good job. This same thing was done in TX when he was gov. it was later found out that the plan did not work. Here in chicago we have a 50% dropout rate and this is before high school. Children don't learn from test. They learn from teachers who truly want to teach. They learn from updated books and have the lastes computers systems. I read an article that more black parents are starting to home school because the schools are doing a bad job. The mis-education of the negro is still at hand.

[BlackAngelfish]

Originally Posted by youngblackceo

we must start questioning everything that is put before us.

Agreed, and more than questioning everything that is put before us, we must now begin to fill our own plates. Young blackceo - great post.

[Living4Him]

Originally Posted by youngblackceo

The very same institutions we hold so high and put so much faith in. Are designed to destroy us and keep us from operating in our best interest. Yes I mean every institution the schools, church, government,family,and entertainment are all part of the same game. I don't care how good it makes us feel and how good it may sound. One key thing we must remember that and effective system of domination will make the suboridinate group feel good when they are operating outside of their best interest. And it will make you feel bad,dirty and guilty when you operate for your own best interest

I agree with what you say here about institutional failures, youngblackceo. However, I don't want to talk about EVERY institution that has failed African Americans, just education.

Technology has changed the face of American education, but classroom-teaching techniques, for the most part, have not changed fast enough to keep up with technology. We, educators of today, therefore, not only are not producing a surplus of students (African-American or otherwise) who are motivated and interested in staying in school but also we are not producing competent and successful students (African-American or otherwise).

In order for today’s students to be able to compete for tomorrow’s jobs, more than ever they need to have strong math, computer, and science skills, areas in which the Asian tests scores are extremely high. On top of this, American students (African-American and otherwise) also need to have strong communications skills—oral and verbal—and they need to be analytical, out-of- the-box thinkers.

Unfortunately, what I have seen in the work world is that it doesn’t matter how good someone is with math, science, or computers, if he or she cannot write or speak well and is not an analytical, out-of-the-box thinker, today’s businesses/corporations really will not hire him or her. I speak as one who has worked in our government’s world (United States Air Force), worked in the business world, and worked in the world of academia.

As an educator, I have to say that I agree with most of what has been posted in this forum, especially with the need for NEW and improved classroom strategies that will address the needs of our African-American students. Personally, I strongly believe that teachers need to know and implement alternative testing methods that are appropriate for our African-American students. I strongly believe that teachers need to possess a repertoire of varied teaching styles and adjust them to accommodate the varied learning styles. I strongly believe that a more accurate picture of the range of EVERY student’s intellectual ability can be measured better with multipurpose and multilevel test batteries instead of a single score or small number of scores. I strongly believe that individual schools need to design a curriculum model and instructional strategies appropriate for each student, which would mean that EVERY professional (teachers, administrators, etcetera) would have to learn and understand EVERY student’s individual and cultural characteristics!!!! And the list goes on and on, but for many school systems, whether urban or not, as it has been said in this forum, the money needed to help their teachers achieve the majority of these classroom strategies just isn’t there!!!

Sadly, though, even if school systems had the money, I do not believe that our American school systems have an immediate nationwide fix that will help African-Americans, and I fear that we are running out of time. I fear that our nation’s demand for excellence in teachers and the lives/minds that they influence fits the too little, too late adage, all too well. As a result, I believe that we will find that more of our students will drop out of school, and of those who remain in school a large percentage of them still may not become competent and successful students. The hope, then, for our students isn’t in public education, per se, but rather that hope is in those of us who not only are able to invest in the future of our African-American students but also willing to do so.


Peace,
Living4Him