No state has met the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher-qualification goals for this school year, the AP reports. Nine states, plus DC and Puerto Rico, may lose federal aid because they did not try hard enough to comply by the law’s deadline. I’ve never been a fan of NCLB, but the teacher qualifications seem […]
A bipartisan group of legislators has introduced a bill that would require the Agriculture Department to set new nutritional standards for all food sold in schools, with the goal of restricting junk food sales. Current regulations apply to cafeteria breakfasts and lunches, but not vending-machine or school-store snacks. I’m all for this—but wonder if restrictions
The New York Times today reports on schools that are cutting funding for gifted programs in order to meet the requirements for the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Schools are shifting funds to ensure that struggling students attain the law’s basic math and reading levels. This highlights one of the biggest dilemmas facing
The New York Times today discusses how “thousands” of schools across the country are reducing class time in subjects other than reading and math, as a reaction to the reading and math testing requirements of the “No Child Left Behind” law. (Registration required for NY Times site.) In some cases, schools have completely eliminated other
I’ve written a lot about politics this week, so in lieu of the weekly political roundup I’ve been doing, I’ll point out a hysterical satire on educational testing by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek. I’ve written before that I take a dim view of “teaching to the test”; Quindlen, however, dares to dream what might happen
There’s been a lot in the media recently about how boys are struggling in the U. S. educational system. Newsweek ran a cover story in its January 30 issue titled “The Trouble With Boys,” and PBS this month aired the documentary “Raising Cain: Boys in Focus,” based on the book of the same name. Some
