NCLB

Setting higher standards doesn't help us educate our children. No Child Left Behind demands higher expectations without provisions for reaching that goal.

If a swim instructor demanded his students to swim twice the length of their normal workout, you would expect he would give them pointers on how to conserve their energy or increase endurance. Simply expecting them to aim farther does not automatically cause them to succeed.

I teach in a low-income, urban elementary school which is starting its second Program Improvement year. More than standardized tests and comparisons to other schools, what would help my students is a teacher's aid, vegetables besides iceberg lettuce for lunch, funding for fieldtrips, and better access to computers and other technology. Dare I even mention our mandated, scripted language arts program which de-humanizes teachers and bores students?

NCLB's intentions are good, but a carrot on a stick only gets you so far.