I think I can assess whether or not my students have a grasp on the required skills better than a test can.

Well, I don't agree that all teachers do.  My daughter's teacher last year told me the entire school year that my daughter wasn't doing well and that she would be held back a year.  She scheduled me for a parent teacher conference to discuss what to do *before* she completed the new tests that she had to do.  Well, after she got my daughter's results, she called me and said that I didn't need to come in, because my daughter scored in the top 25%.  I'm wondering how much better she would have done if the teacher wouldn't have written her off in the beginning of the year.

This year, the first thing they did was perform the new reading readiness test for first graders that NCLB has forced them to do (even got a note that explained why they did it).  She scored 100% on it, which showed them that she would need a different type of reading program, one which they started last year with their NCLB funding.

By old standards, the first teacher would have held her back, then she would have been off course for the rest of her school career.  My husband had that happen- he never did his Math homework because he could just look at it and know the answer.  Too boring, so he didn't do it, so they failed him.  If he would have been tested instead, they would have seen that he was talented in Math.  He's the only person I know that graduated college with a 4.0 grade point and did it with getting scholarships every year.  But, yet, he was treated like "failure" early on in school because they didn't know what he was able to do.

The new testing is working for my child. 

Also, when talking about school funding, almost all school funding still comes from the State.  In Michigan, the number one funding for schools is the lotto.  So, if you want smarter kids, gamble more

you only have parents to blame for all of this

No, you can't blame parents for "all of this." Some, sure. Teachers? Yeah, they have responsibility, too. The students themselves? CERTAINLY! In this battle to blame teachers and blame parents, we forget one thing: some kids just don't care.

There's kids that can take a test with the best of them but can't apply that knowledge anywhere else but on paper.

Then there's kids that get terrified of big, huge test booklets but can read "War and Peace" to me at a first grade level.

I'm with Myrrander...I think its unfair to students who are new to the US and students in special education to have to take the same test the valedictorian is taking. Ten bucks says the only reason our school made AYP last year is because we don't have a lot of ELL's, we're in a ritzy neighborhood, and we have to spend tons of time every day teaching what's on those tests (Not that that's a bad thing...). The tests give me, as a new teacher, and idea of what to teach. What should my first graders know? This will tell me.

And, as Myrr said, some kids just don't care. I don't have any like that yet, in first grade. I can still get them fired up about short o words...but its only a matter of time.

Students just memorize the information long enough to take a test. So...your child is going to school and learning how to have a great short term memory. What about life long knowledge?

That would be an argument for teaching methods in general.  My daughter had weekly spelling tests. which is common.  She studies a group each week.  They don't repeat.  How is this any different than the "other" tests that teachers are preparing them for? 

In this battle to blame teachers and blame parents, we forget one thing: some kids just don't care.

That may be true with older kids, but do you just write off a younger child because they seem to "not care"?  That is how kids *used* to go for years with learning disabilities that could have been worked with.  That is how kids with dyslexia were over looked.  A lot of testing that is done in Elementary school will seek those kids out and get them on the right track so that they are not a "problem" later on. 

I always find it interesting when people can spout how we need to spend money on all sorts of social problems, but can so easily write off children.  Adults have the responsibility to make sure that the children get raised to be healthy, happy, educated individuals.  If you write them off before they have made it through school, then you have failed.

Teaching a child is a group effort.  The teacher has to provide the parent with material and information to help teach, and the parent has to take that material and reinforce it at home.  If the teacher fails to inform the parent, or the parent fails to enforce the teaching, then how can you blame the child?

The teachers and vice principal at my sons school said they struggled with the 5th grade math test

Maybe this should be a wake up call? 5th grade would definitely be pre-Algebra. I would expect things like complex multipication/division, fractions, decimals, negative numbers. Those things would seem reasonable for an educated adult to do.

To me, it seems like teachers are just teaching information that is only going to appear these tests.

What exactly is this wonderful stuff that is being cut out to accomodate NCLB?

They wont lower the bar...only raise it. The law wont allow the bar to be lowered...only constantly raised.

This sounds like whining to me. Why would we want to lower the bar?

The problem with this is that, I am focusing more time on meeting the stupid standards (which I could manage to BS my way into making almost any of them fit in the first place) and writing lesson plans to match...than I am focusing on how I am going to instruct the students to engage them and have them learn.

What sort of things were you doing to engage students and have them learn that aren't compatible with state standards?

Schools should never, NEVER, be tested on the level of achievment of students, unless you can measure how dedicated the students are for their tests. If you dont perform well at work, your company shouldnt be punished...you should be. Why should this be any different at schools?

I think this is the wrong attitude. If a company's employees do poorly, the company suffers. If a company's business partners do poorly, the company suffers.

Here, I've written a piece on NCLB from my teacher's perspective, if anyone's interested: Link

Karma -- You make a very valid point about younger kids; I'm a high school teacher, so I was referring to older students -- certainly we have a better chance of inspiring younger students to care more. The elementary teachers out there have my respect, because their jobs are a lot harder than mine in many ways.

I think that most teachers would agree that the intentions behind NCLB are good...but the way the law is structured...it sucks.

In there lies the issue with the whole shebang.

Madine...you took some of my quotes, so I will reply. There is nothing with lowering the bar. The bar only has one function...to go up. It wont stop, it wont slide down if the school needs more time to meet achievement...it only goes up. Im not whining. Lets say you were told you had to make your company 50% more money this month...and you didnt...only made 35%. Now...you didnt do what they wanted you to, so you can either continue this trend...or try to improve. By continuing the trend...after a couple of more bad years, you will lose funding all together, but still be expected to make progress. How can you make progress without any funding? This is what happens to schools...if they in the first place, dont have enough funding to get the achievement scores they need, they wont be able to meet them...only ensuring they will fail...which then guarantees they wont get any federal funding..which means even less money...and then they wont get any fed money until they improve. Now, lets say you took the other path, and tried to improve. Now...well you only got 35% achievement...which means you not only need to make up that 15% you were short, but you also need to get another 15% higher...a total of a 30% growth in achievement in one year. Can you do it? No. The bar will always raise...whether or not you achieve it. With this in mind...the bar always rising...when will it stop? 100% total achievement in schools is not possible...period. It just isnt possible.

Nothing is being cut out to meet NCLB. But with the new standards in place...teachers are focusing more time on the standards and meeting them...than they are spending on making lesson plans which will engage the students. Making lesson plans, you think...is not a hard thing. In my school, I have to have an objective, procedures and evaluation for everything i teach, each and every day. This alone takes up a ton of time. On top of this...I have to find the standards that meet what I am teaching. I spend on average...over five hours a week making lesson plans. If you think standards are a good thing....well they are...but not always. My district is so heavily influenced by NCLB, that they have designed benchmarks which tell me where a child should be and what they should know by a certain benchmark period in the school year. This means that I am jumping and going all over the place in their textbook trying to teach them the materials the district wants them to know. THe problem is that the textbook builds upon itself...each chapter expands on what was learned in the last chapter....but If I go from chapter 1, to 13, to 4, to 8...etc. The students are going to struggle even more because the textbook does not match the standards. What is wrong with that? With all the jumping and looping around...the students are much further behind. I student taught this spring, and my fourth graders this fall, are unable to add two digit numbers, never have covered rounding, cant multiply one digit by 2 (ie...2X12)...cant add in their heads...unable to subtract 2 digit by 1 digit numbers (23-2). This was all observed as a whole of 27 students this fall. My second graders I student taught this spring....had complete and total MASTERY of the above....two years earlier in school!

What you think a reasonable adult can do...is what you THINK you can do. Students in todays schools are learning things much earlier in their education than we did. I myself never covered base ten blocks until I was in college....they cover them in 2nd grade. Many of the concepts we learned in algebra and higher algebra classes in middle and high school, are concepts taught at very young grades. A fifth grade test is not as easy as you think it is.

D3adzombie....
you said:
1.) NCLB is Federally funded.
2.) NCLB is implemented in all States.
3.) NCLB is implemented in all schools within each state.
4.) NCLB is applicable to every student.

1. Yes...it is federally funded. So is the experiment testing the runniness of ketchup. Schools are federally funded. Schools get most of their funding from state and local, but there is an amount of fed funding. The problem is that NCLB is not funded to the point where Bush said it would be. He said there would be X number of dollars in the bill...and there is hardly any.
2. NCLB is implemented in all states....it is a Federal law.
3. NCLB is implemented in all schools within each state...it is federal law. Except where the schools have decided to break from the bill and go on their own, denying federal involvement...which is an option...just means they dont get any fed $$, but for many schools....its a spit in a bucket of water anyways...so no big loss.
4. NCLB is applicable to every student...it is a Federal law. So yeah...its going to apply to every one. It applies to everyone...the problem is there is no funding to back up the program.

Also..the things you mentioned to every parent....are not because of NCLB. They are a result of IDEA and ADA. Those laws are similar...one covers a wider spectrum of students than the other. As a parent....you are able to envoke your rights in one of those laws. This is where the conept of IEP came from...NOT NCLB!

IDEA came out as a law (1990 and ammendments in 1997)...long before NCLB allowing:
Identification - they identified your sons issue.
FAPE - federal grant - families and advocates partnership for education
Due process - the whole process to which you are entitled
consultation - going over the issue with everyone.
Least Restrictive Environment - making sure it does not restrict his education and keeps him in the general ed classroom.
IEP’s - BINGO!
Nondiscriminatory evaluation - being evaluated fairly.
Confidentiality - this is just a given.
inservice - making sure every teacher / aide with the student knows what the issue is and how to work with it.

I understand where the concept of the IEP came from (roots actually go back to the late 70's and 80' lawsuits against schools, eventually came to pass as IDEA and ADA), good call on that. Implementing our son on a personal IEP was one of the many alternatives available to us, it was NCLB that gave us the funding to help determine what our child needed and the NCLB that motivated the teachers to work with us.
I know this because they kept saying, "We have to do this, its law", amongst other things. The only consistancy about a schools administrative paperwork is that from the top (Federal) to the bottom(classroom) its a huge mess to sift through. I'd imagine that educational courses in administration become required for future school staff...