Today feels like a turning point. I spent the day, like many of you, in the company of students (7th grade, math-loving, New York City ones, to be exact). Largely unprompted by me, they wanted to discuss the state of our country, our shared values, and the complexities of democracy. Knowing my leanings towards politics and policy-making, a few even asked what today's election results meant for me, personally. Despite the resounding feeling that today marks a kind of terminal moment (an ending or loss of sorts), I realized that the real work of school change continues. The image of our divided and uncertain country serves as a reminder that to work on behalf of children (especially in poor, urban communities) today as ever remains a bold, daunting, and vital act.As a member of TNLI/TNPI you've chosen to engage in this kind of thinking and activism. So over the next few days I invite you to join a conversation about the latest, and perhaps most controversial, piece of national legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act. We'll start by discussing questions 1-3, then later in the month I will open up a conversation about question 4. Please remind us of your name, city and school position, as many of us are new to this community.

Kara Imm
NYC
11/1/04

1. Let's start by generating together a list of some of the values and assumptions embedded in the NCLB Act. Two examples might include: by making school success and failure a more transparent and public record, all schools will eventually improve; OR norm-referenced standardized tests are the most effective and efficient way to measure student and school progress. Refer to the reading (especially Chapter 1) to help us generate a list of assumptions. 2. Given these assumptions and values, what does it suggest about legislators' understanding of students, teachers and school change? What motivations for creating and implementing NCLB begin to surface?3. As the shadow of NCLB looms larger over schools across the country, what has changed (or may change) for a typical classroom teacher, for teacher professional communities, for teacher education programs, and for the general public's understanding of our work?
We'll talk about this one later…..

4. Where do we (TLNI) have the capacity to make the greatest impact, with respect to NCLB or its issues? Linda Darling Hammond suggests that, "the law must be amended so that sates have flexibility and encouragement to use performance assessments and that test are used diagnostically for informing curriculum rather than punishing students or schools" (24). Since we do not have law amending power, how might we advocate for such changes? Give specific examples of ways we can inform and advocate, and describe the forums in which our voice might be most profound.

http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/
articles/NCLB_Survey_Report.pdf. I think this report speaks to question #3 posed by Kara. The recommendations briefly are:

1. Schools do need additional resources, but not just more money.
2. The need for strong leaders for poorly performing schools—currently, nothing in NCLB attracts administrators to these schools.
3. Improve retention of teachers in high-poverty schools—improve working conditions and provide more collaboration time.
4. Accountability should encompass more than standardized testing.

I look forward to reading your thoughts about NCLB, particularly since our newly re-elected president thinks he now has a mandate to govern.

Gail V. Ritchie, MEd, NBCT
Fairfax County, Virginia
11/5/04

This, of course, is false and the people who make these policies lack the understanding (or perhaps the desire) to make sure that we have the tools necessary to do what we can and must. There is the assumption that administrators, staff, and teachers are really a bunch of lazy bums who could improve skills if only they wanted to. But, the fact is that we WANT to, but aren’t always given the tools to make our desires a reality.Of course, when the improvement doesn’t happen the policymakers think we need to be punished and “taught a lesson” so they take away the little tools we did have hoping that this will solve the problem.The fundamental problem is that our society does not think too highly of teachers or public education and does not see that most, if not all, of us want to do well by our students. But, because we don’t often have the environment or the tools to do so, we can’t. No amount of punishing us will solve that. I think it is implicit in the current legislation that “bad” schools must be punished, not helped.

Tim Fredrick
NYC
11/9/04

It’s funny, I was composing this email off-line, when I read Tim’s eloquent response, so I altered it a bit so as not to be too redundant.As I’ve been reading the book, I have been thinking a lot about our systems (nationally and locally) that lately have set impossibly high expectations for students and teachers and schools and then fail (purposefully, perhaps?) to provide the resources and support to meet those expectations. When students, teachers, and schools predictably fail to meet these unrealistic and unsupported expectations, we are blamed and punished for it. I think that one of the assumptions inherent in NCLB is that learning can be best measured by standardized tests, and that a system of blame and punishment can raise achievement on those tests. It makes me so sad that the general public believes that what counts are test scores. We’ve managed to reduce the complexity, richness, and magic of teaching and learning into a number. I agree with Tim, in that policymakers believe that threatened sanctions against schools create "the will" to do better. And to a certain extent, they're right. Schools and school systems will lie and cheat and "lose" kids to show Adequate Yearly Progress. And there is a scary and insidious underlying assumption that if you do lie and cheat to magically show that students in your state are making Adequate Yearly Progress, that’s OK, because we don’t really need you to be honestly helping kids, it’s all about looking like you’re helping kids. In the end, what exactly are we teaching our children?

Judi Fenton
NYC
11/9/04

Matt Wayne here, from California. I am a former (but still current in my heart!) member of the New York City affiliate and now an “advisory fellow” to the new San Francisco affiliate. I am very glad that TNLI has continued to expand westward and now has roots in the Bay Area.I read Linda Darling-Hammond’s article with great interest and great unease. At first, I didn’t even know how to respond. What she says seems so self-evident. She combines thoughtful policy analysis with common sense to identify so much of what is wrong with the current NCLB legislation and what might be done to improve it. What is there for us to discuss? I want to say amen, and let’s move on.Yet if it is so self-evident, why have our policies in education moved so far away from what seems like “common sense?” So instead of questioning the assumptions of the act (as Judi and Tim have already eloquently done), I have been questioning my own assumptions with respect to the challenges NCLB
presents and how we, as concerned educators, might “inform and advocate” as Kara asks.I have begun thinking that educators need to take a much more active role in addressing the challenges Linda Darling-Hammond presents. Why do we so often bemoan these policies and then rely on the government to change them? What are the leverage points we can address to both affect change and change the conversation about what needs to happen to ensure that all children are learning? Here are a few examples, ones which I hope will provoke discussion.Negotiate teacher contracts that increase the pay and professional opportunities of teachers in hard to staff schools. Salary and working conditions are two leverage points we know will help attract and retain teachers in these schools. Teachers and administrators can take an active role on these issues through the contract. Unions can demand that the pay scale reflect the challenges teachers and administrators face in hard to staff schools. Teachers can insist on provisions that will guarantee the staff in such schools will have additional professional development opportunities that will improve their efficacy and create a more professional and collegial working environment. Why are we waiting for district and government policy on this issue when we can demand what we need for ourselves?Distinguish lack of funding from mismanagement and point out both with equal vigor. Linda Darling-Hammond provides research of how schools are under-funded. She then describes in detail the conditions of one school. For example, “one dead rodent has remained, decomposing, in the corner of the gymnasium since the beginning of the school year.” No child should be subjected to this. Yet it is not lack of funding that caused this situation, it is mismanagement. How could every single adult in the school – from the custodian, to the principal, to the teachers, to the counselors – let that happen? She is not describing a school whose physical facility has been run down from age. It has been run down from lack of care - lack of care by adults who are paid to care for that school. I would not give one dime to that school without first identifying the people who will take responsibility to ensure that it will be a safe, clean place. With every demand for more money and more resources, we need to identify who will be responsible and accountable to ensure that the money and resources will be well-managed to provide our children with schools, classes, and teachers they deserve.Provide rigorous, in-depth preparation and support to new teachers. Darling-Hammond's oft-cited statistic that 30% of teachers leave within the first five years speaks to the challenges we face in the profession. Yet it also speaks to the preparation teachers receive before entering the classroom. Are new teachers attending programs providing teachers with the rigorous, in-depth preparation they need to thrive in the profession for more than five years? Linda Darling-Hammond, as many others, compares the teaching profession with the medical profession. Medical students attend medical schools where there are teaching hospitals. They practice what they are learning on a daily basis. There are few schools of education that have a “teaching school” in which students have the opportunity to learn about the profession in a real classroom on a daily basis. (I have heard one too many teachers say that they didn't really learn about teaching until they started working in the classroom.) In addition, in most districts first year teachers have the exact same responsibility as teachers with thirty years of experience. Why not outline different, and fewer, responsibilities for new teachers? This is another area in the contract which we can negotiate to ensure that the policies we can control are providing new teachers with the support they need to be successful and stay in the profession.Yes, NCLB has ludicrous testing requirements. Yes, we need more support, more resources, more time to accomplish our goals with our children. Yet we should not be so passive in our critique of NCLB and just wait for the federal government to make things better for us. We need to take dynamic positions on the challenges we face and demonstrate our serious commitment to changing the way we educate our children. Otherwise, I worry that the voice of educators will continue to be irrelevant, as it so clearly was in the design of NCLB in the first place.I look forward to your responses.Matt Wayne

San Francisco
11/11/04

Alberta Miclette
State of Delaware
11/11/04

As Matt Wayne reminds us in his response this week, "We should not be so passive in our critique of NCLB and just wait for the federal government to make things better for us. We need to take dynamic positions on the challenges we face and demonstrate our serious commitment to changing the way we educate our children. Otherwise, I worry that the voice of educators will continue to be irrelevant, as it so clearly was in the design of NCLB in the first place."Please feel free to respond to the original questions (listed below), or the ideas of another Fellow.Looking forward to hearing your response!

Kara Imm,
TNLI, New York
11/11/04

2. Given these assumptions and values, what does it suggest about legislators' understanding of students, teachers and school change? What motivations for creating and implementing NCLB begin to surface?3. As the shadow of NCLB looms larger over schools across the country, what has changed (or may change) for a typical classroom teacher, for teacher professional communities, for teacher education programs, and for the general public's understanding of our work?We'll talk about this one later in the month…..4. Where do we (TNLI) have the capacity to make the greatest impact, with respect to NCLB and issues like it? Linda Darling Hammond suggests that, "the law must be amended so that states have flexibility and encouragement to use performance assessments and that test are used diagnostically for informing curriculum rather than punishing students or schools" (24). Since we do not have law amending power, what roles do we play? Give specific examples of ways we can inform and advocate, and describe the forums in which our voice might be most profound.I don't think the danger of our discussion of NCLB is so much that we preach to the choir, as it is that we look at NCLB through narrow, uncritical prisms that fail to capture the complexity of the issues that surround it. There is much to rightly criticize in NCLB, but there is also much in it that should be supported and that is being criticized for all of the wrong reasons. If we are not able to be more discerning and more careful in our approach, if we fail to draw the appropriate distinctions as we paint madly with the broadest of the brushes, then we will find ourselves in the same political bed as some rather unsavory elements, alienating our natural political allies, and suffering more grievous political losses as a result. The election of Bush has put us in a bad enough spot as it is, without compounding that problem by embarking on poorly thought out campaigns which will cause more damage than good.

Specifically, we are fooling only ourselves if we ignore the fact that a great deal of protest surrounding NCLB, especially from the suburbs, comes from those who object to the fact that it requires the disaggregation of test data by race and ethnicity, and that it evaluates school and district performance on the disaggregated data. As a result, the dirty secret of many a school and school district, that they are ill-serving their poor children and their children of color, is now exposed to public view, where before it could be hidden in aggregate data. We are also only fooling ourselves if we do not recognize that the civil rights community generally supports NCLB for this very reason. The strong advocacy of the Education Trust for NCLB is only the tip of the iceberg here. A Google with keywords "No Child Left Behind" and "civil rights" quickly brings you to the web pages of the leading national coalition of civil rights organizations, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights [with 180 member organizations, from the NAACP, A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Children's Defense Fund, historically black churches and National Council of La Raza to the ACLU, NOW, AFL-CIO and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (both the AFT and NEA are members)]. There you will find passages like the following: "From our point of view, [NCLB] testing has been very helpful in pinpointing the problem, and showing exactly which kids are not making the grade," said Michael A. Rebell, executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, which used NCLB data to win a 10-year old lawsuit against New York state last year. [Educational Lawsuits Succeeding With "No Child Left Behind" Data, July 8, 2004.]

LCCR is not uncritical of NCLB, but they do not target the accountability mechanisms on which our entire discussion has focused; rather, they focus on the Bush administration's failure to properly fund the legislation, thus denying schools the resources needed to correct the failures and inequities which the data reveals. Wade Henderson, LCCR’s Executive Director states, "Increasingly in our public schools, we are becoming a nation of haves and have-nots. Public schools in the nation’s wealthiest school districts have up-to-date textbooks and technology, high-quality teachers, quality after-school programs, and smaller class sizes – all of which lead to improved student achievement. But the schools in our nation’s low-income neighborhoods often don’t have those things. The intent of this law is in its title – to leave no child behind. If we are serious about accomplishing that goal, the resources for implementing reforms need to be provided." [Civil Rights Coalition Gives 'No Child Left Behind' an 'I' for Incomplete, January 8, 2003.] Numerous other examples of similar testimony from civil rights leaders and organizations are available on the web.

Conservatives have long sought to divide African-Americans and Latino/as from progressive causes and from their historic alliances with teachers and their unions by focusing on failing inner city schools and proposing various privatization schemes, especially vouchers, as the only reform which can provide a quality education in good schools for urban children of color. How unfortunate it would be if we made that task all the more easier by joining with those who oppose NCLB because it disaggregates performance data by race in issuing sweeping, unqualified condemnations of NCLB. How much easier it will be for people like Bush and Paige [it is not by accident that Bush chose a conservative African-American as Secretary of Education] to make stick the charge of a "bigotry of low expectations" against teachers if we do not say that we support -- indeed, welcome -- the parts of NCLB that expose the inequities of the current public school system. It is essential that we mount a defense of public schools which is not a defense of the status quo.

Similarly, one now often sees what amounts to a "states rights" argument against NCLB, that the federal government has no constitutional business in education, and that it should be left up entirely to the state and local governments. The problem here is not simply that fact that it is the very same state and local governments being championed which are the agents of the creation and maintenance of two American public school systems, separate and unequal, for 'haves' and 'have nots.' It is also the historical reality that it is the federal government which, over the last half century, has been responsible for virtually every important piece of educational judicial and legislative progress in this nation, from Brown v. Board of Education, the GI Bill, and Head Start, to Title One, subsidized school lunches, and the rights of children with disabilities. It is really distressing to see folks who call themselves educational progressives taking up the very same argument ardent segregationists used a generation ago, seemingly without the slightest self-awareness of what they are doing. [I have written on this particular subject in some detail: http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=
110&subsecID=900001&contentID=252320 ]

NCLB was a compromise bill, fashioned not only by the Bush White House but also by leading Senate liberals like Ted Kennedy. As a compromise, it has both good and bad aspects. Significantly, it staved off various federal voucher and privatization laws as well as brought attention to racial and economic disparities, but it had a most serious flaw in its reliance upon the word of the Bush administration to fully fund it. There is no question, as both the AFT and NEA have said, that the accountability mechanisms such as the measures of Annual Yearly Progress are both entirely unrealistic and much too dependent on standardized test scores. It makes sense, as a coalition of education and civil rights groups just did, and as John Kerry, the AFT and the NEA did before them, to say that one supports the goals of NCLB, while seeing the need to correct the means for achieving those goals and to fully funding the law. [See the Education Week article on this initiative, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/10/27/
09nclb.h24.html?querystring=NCLB%20Civil%20Rights It makes no sense to mount an attack against NCLB which becomes an assault on the very idea of accountability: we should never be opposed to closing down failing schools and replacing them with schools that work, especially since we know that failing schools are most often filled with poor children of color. The issue for us should be that the measures of NCLB do a completely inadequate job of identifying failure: since they will soon say the overwhelming preponderance of all public schools are in need of correction, in practice they identify none, as they will not provide means to distinguish the truly failing schools, which we all know exist.

When one works at educational change as long as I have, and does so from within the one type of organization that has the political capacity to lead a great deal of progressive educational change, teacher unions, one becomes accustomed to uninformed, undocumented and even silly charges about what "the union" does and does not do. It is part of the terrain, I suppose, that an organization with the capacity to lead for good is going to draw a lot of fire of this nature. So the comments here about how "the union" has done nothing to combat NCLB, and how that makes it somehow "undemocratic," are not surprising, if still disappointing in their uncritical repetition of uninformed criticisms. [And while we are on the topic of 'democracy,' it is worth noting that this recent survey of teachers by the Harvard Civil Rights Project http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/
articles/NCLB_Survey_Report.pdf shows that teachers share a nuanced approach to NCLB, especially drawing a distinction between support for its goals nad opposition to its implementation.] Through the AFT, our national union, the UFT has done a great deal about NCLB, advocating a position along the lines I have described above. If you are interested in seeing how the AFT has carefully and precisely dissected NCLB, to identify the parts we support as well as the parts which are not working and must be changed, take a look at this AFT policy brief: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/downloads/teachers/PolicyBrief18.pdf

the advocacy of a careful and precise position reflects the seriousness with which the UFT and AFT take our actions, because we know that there are consequences for the positions we take, unlike the positions assumed by gadfly critics. If we were to launch a wholesale critique of NCLB that did not distinguish between its goals and its implementation, between the quite positive disaggregation data by race and the quite unrealistic measures of annual yearly progress, we would do incalculable harm to historic alliances which we need more than ever.

Leo Casey
NYC
11/11/04

Leslie Jirsa
NYC
11/11/04

Thom Jones
Fairfax County, VA
11/11/04

With that said, the most obvious value embedded into the NCLB Act is the assumption that testing improves learning. I don't feel that I can say much more in way of explanation, because that's how simplistic the law is: more
tests = more learning.This, of course, leads us to some of the same conclusions others have mentioned, namely that lawmakers don't have a clue about the laws they create. We live in a 1984 world, where "blue skies" policies and "no child left behind" acts sound great, but the reality is that it's all politics.I agree with the point that we need to stop waiting for the government to do something... and this is why I am so frustrated with our union. If it truly is a professional organization, why aren't they on the front lines, demanding
that this asinine set of laws be fixed? Yes, I know you can argue that it's "my" union, and if I feel strongly, I should get more involved. But, a person can get involved in so many areas, and as a third year teacher, I'm doing my best to stay focused on improving my own craft before I attempt to go out and tackle the rest of the world. But, I feel like the leadership of the union (which really doesn't seem so "democratic" the more I learn about it) needs to be taking a stand on this issue and stand up for what we know is best for our kids.Thoughts? Hope my two cents hasn't offended too many people.
:)

Lisa Purcell
NYC
11/11/04

I think there are more thoughtful ways our union and our federal forces could proceed with what I understand of many of the tasks they've undertaken. I also know it's way easier to point fingers than critically examine progress. I reserve my right to be angry, even in a sophomoric way, because I think raw anger fuels change. But, I think I'm able to do that because I can safely rely on the checks and balances, like Leo's response here, of carefully calculated platforms. It's nice to know there is so much data on our side, it's hopeful to be re-reminded there are more than two ways (blue, red) to look at things, and that so many intelligent, passionate people have been involved in this fight as long as they have. Thank you.
Leslie Jirsa
NYC
11/11/04

I teach in an elementary school in the Bronx, New York area. It is a school with 95% Hispanic students, students who are considered ELA learners. Many of
them are recent immigrants, who are the only English language speakers in the home. Now that NCLB has made itself a presence with a measuring stick of
standardized tests, there is an atmosphere of test-taking skills that has become part of school life. Central Administration feels this and passes it on to local administration and that in turn filters into the classroom. How: prescribed lessons, common homework, everyone on the same page on the same day. What has happened to the judgment and knowledge of experienced teachers who know new and different
methods? Failing schools are being watched and monitored like never before. They are being micro-managed and my concern is that it will drive away the creative and dedicated veteran teachers who have worked for many years in the field. This is yet another fall-out from NCLB.

Maureen Connelly
NYC
11/11/04

In listing assumptions, let us add the following:1. Schools will continue to improve indefinitely (or until 100% achievement has been met) is a false assumption.2. You can measure achievement year to year and not group to group (again, false assumptions because changes in subgroups can greatly affect your scores).The government has little, if any, understanding of NCLB. First, they do not understand the error in the way they measure the data and in using norm referenced tests. Also, they do not understand the work of teachers and schools. They do not understand that children are individuals and that they do not all come with the same background, motivation, support, and pre-skills. Nor do they understand the work of teachers! I challenge any legislature, governor or official to do what I do for a month, much less a week!!! I have read articles on the number of skills, decisions, and types of intelligences teachers must use in an
hour, much less in a day!And lastly, what changes I have seen. The most detrimental changes have been to delete creativity, motivation and the arts from the curriculum. Classes have been "watered-down" to standards and tests. Many students were unmotivated to begin with, and now that we have taken any creativity, form of expression, "fun," or real-life application out of the curriculum, we will never motivate them! My heart aches for our students. I am actually glad mine are in middle and high school!! I refuse to give up problem-solving and real-world skills while I teach the math standards. As an engineer by training, I will choose another career before I teach a rote curriculum.Unfortunately, the public has also come to judge schools by a score. This, as the reading described, moves higher achieving students to higher achieving schools, and leaves lower achieving students to drop-out.

Shelley Klein
Santa Barbara County, CA
11/12/04

Several participants, in addition to us, are connected with TNLI: Sally Roderick (founding LA MetLife Fellow) and current fellows, Michelle Ivy and Lori Nazareno, from Miami, and Kay Hones from San Francisco. I felt as if I had met a rock star after conversing with the famous Ann Lieberman, star of our “What is Policy?” video, a TNLI cult classic. (Notes from her presentation About Networks can be found at the end of this report.) Four committees were formed according to specific interests--advocacy, leadership, teacher professionalism, and networking. I joined advocacy, and Ellen joined networking, while both of us remained focused on the important issues of the ongoing effects of NCLB and the privatization of public schools—epitomized by the recent remark by Michael Milken, “Education is the gold rush of the 21st century.”After lengthy discussion and debate, the advocacy group developed specific goals:
getting teachers in the room when decisions are made (and creating a sense of shame when they’re not), connecting teachers with policy inclinations to inside operators and to key advocates (I suggested activities such as our annual legislative breakfast), providing professional development that helps teachers hone in on those skillsThe networking group wrestled with how developing a network amongst all of our groups would be additive to what we are doing now and what form the networking might take. A majority of the groups represented were comprised of National Board certified teachers trying to figure out what to do next. (TNLI? Duh.)The next day, we broke up into the following groups: Compiling Models of Teacher Leadership, Creating a Manifesto (Guiding Principles), Developing Messages and Stories (Lori Nazareno presented TNLI action research, which was great) and Designing an Online Network. Ellen and I both participated in the Developing Messages and Stories group where we helped to develop “Karl Rove-like” sound bites to subliminally move the public into the teacher leadership camp, e.g. “Tests are Tools not Weapons, It’s a Journey not a Race, and Public Accountability for Public Funds.” (Lori told us that in Florida students with vouchers attend private schools that don’t require the high stakes testing that public schools do.)We concluded the meeting by outlining some definitive next steps that will be carried out by a subcommittee of the group.Next Steps:
Alliance principles
Models of Teacher Leadership
Forge alliance with unions
Funding
Web infrastructure
Compilation of Teacher Leadership initiatives from participating organizationsThere will be an official summary of the meeting sent to all participants that I will post to the TNLI list serve upon receipt. In the meantime, Michelle, Lori, Sally and Kay may want to chime in.

Jeremy Copeland
NYC Fellow
11/15/04

What can networks provide? Opportunities for (teachers) to both consume and generate knowledge
A variety of collaborative structures Flexibility and informality Ideas that challenge rather than prescribe generic solutions A chance to work across geographic and institutional lines
Discussions of problems that have no agreed upon solutions
An organizational structure that is independent, yet attached
A community….?How do networks develop?
Purpose and direction
Building collaboration and commitment
Relationships and activities
Leadership as cross-cultural brokering (must know the language and culture of other people)
Funding as a perennial (recurrent) problemA network grows up ideas that people are committed to, trains them for leadership
Can provide the infrastructure for people to work togetherWhat are the challenges that networks face?
Meaningful purposes and compelling activities
Inside knowledge and outside knowledge
Governance, leadership and representation
Inclusivity/exclusivity of membership
Networks of networks face formidable problems of finding super ordinate goals and ways of working together

It seems a lot easier to build networks to take things down, rather than to build them up.

They all spoke very eloquently, of course. George Wood talked about the current climate in which "the equity of results has replaced the equity of inputs" and scientific evidence as the gold standard for what we teach. He asked who decides the evidence. He also talked about NCLB being "a vision of school that brings us all together and a policy vision that doesn't"Linda Darling Hammond talked about how progressive educators need to get involved in policy because "policy is too important to be left to policymakers." She said that we have to understand it's consequences and work on developing assessment systems that we want to see as alternatives to high stakes testing. After they spoke, Carl Glickman talked about how the forum is looking to build get educators involved and build alliances to change NCLB. They have started Project 2007, which is when NCLB comes up for reauthorization. He asked us how we thought we could get involved and after we talked in groups for a few minutes, they passed around the microphone and people reported out. I told them about how TNLI is discussing the book on our listserv and how we are doing research in our classrooms and schools and collecting the stories that reflect the impact of NCLB. After we reported, Debbie Meier wrapped up the presentation and talked about how important it is to really see the kids and collect the stories.If you want to, go to www.forumforeducation.org to sign up for email updates and to see their policy statement on NCLB.

Judi Fenton
NYC
11/15/04

Sally Roderick
Los Angeles
11/15/04

Cary Brandenberger
State of Delaware
11/19/04

Lorraine Caputo
State of Delaware
11/19/04

I just read this piece and thought I'd share it-- enjoy, Lucia TNLINYC
THE MEASURE OF A GREAT TEACHER
Fixing public education seems to involve a constant quest for the one true
thing, the magic bullet, what experts call systemic reform – higher standards, proven curriculums, small schools, large schools, even uniform dress codes. Yet the one true thing never appears, writes Anemona Hartocollis. But many children and their parents think they have found the one true thing. They remember a great teacher and, if they are lucky, more than one. It is the teacher who made them understand algebra for the first time, or love literature, or feel as if they would grow up to be somebody worthwhile. Ask any parent how school is going this year, and if they're happy, the first thing they say is that their child has a great teacher. No one remembers a great school system or a great chancellor, a great textbook, or a great curriculum that came straight out of the can, with little room for deviation or idiosyncrasy. Ideally, the measurable outcomes of teaching, like test scores or graduation rates or college entrance rates, would correlate somehow with the teachers people remember. In general, Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson has found that effective teachers not only know their subjects but also have high expectations, do whatever it takes to help children understand the material and don't let them give up.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/education/edlife/117TEA.html

Lucia St. Denis
NYC
11/22/04

“Have any of you worked in one of these ‘Zone’ schools or feel as though you are very familiar with the program?”“How effective were these schools in increasing student achievement? By what measure?”“To what extent was the academic freedom of teachers encouraged or discouraged? (I cannot and will not follow a scripted curriculum or have someone dictate my teaching methods)”“To what extent was teacher leadership encouraged? (Clearly, I am not accustomed to asking for permission)”

To everyone else:“What would it take to get you into a hard-to-staff school, if you are not already in one?”“Those of you who are in a high needs school, what will it take to keep you there?”“What incentives are necessary, other than pay, to get you to teach in a "zone" school?

While this is a personal issue for me, the issue of getting accomplished teachers in front of the children who need them the most is an issue that must be addressed. Here in Miami, we have some TERRIFIC teachers teaching in the zone schools, but many, many others would not even consider going to these schools. Even the most recent study that strongly supports the effectiveness of NBCTs has buried in the middle of it a statement that says that NBCTs are less likely to be teaching ESE students and low performing students. So, how do we change this?

I realize that this is not in the "flow" of our current conversation, but I am really, really in need of information that only my fellow TNLI folks can provide. Any information that you can give me would be greatly appreciated. If you prefer, you can e-mail me directly at lnazareno@dadeschools.net.

Happy Turkey Day to all!!

Lori Nazareno
Miami
11/26/04

Leo Casey
NYC
11/23/04

Just had to respond to your comments/questions. For me it would be a major challenge to step out of a comfort zone (present school) to a truly "Zone" school and that challenge could be very stimulating. To think that a team of teachers and administrators could make a difference in the lives of kids that just keep falling behind would be so worth the efforts.What would I need to step out and do something like that? I would want to be sure the administrators and teachers have the philosophy of "team" and that the teacher's voice is valued. Incentives? I would want to see built in teacher collaboration time, not catch a moment here and there time, to really look at on-going progress of students academically as well as socially and emotionally. The last 2 pieces are critical to the academic piece happening. I would also like to see some TNLI action research on the first year of a teacher in this situation and be able to read about the authentic learning for both teacher and students.Just some thoughts. Good luck Lori with your decision. Please keep us posted.

Carol Gregor
Santa Barbara
11/24/04

Just as important as the content of this discussion is the fact that we are learning and practicing how to respectfully disagree in this virtual environment. Thank you for all who have been faithfully reading and contributing to this conversation.Will you now think about our final question and post a few brief ideas before Wednesday? Here it is again..........
Where do we (TLNI) have the capacity to make the greatest impact, with respect to NCLB or its issues? Linda Darling Hammond suggests that, "the law must be amended so that states have flexibility and encouragement to use performance assessments and that test are used diagnostically for informing curriculum rather than punishing students or schools" (24).

Since we do not have law amending power, how might we advocate for such changes? Give specific examples of ways we can inform and advocate, and describe the forums in which our voice and action might be most profound.
Kara Imm
NYC
11/29/04

The biggest shame of NCLB is that the public rarely hears of the negative aspects we have talked about here. The discourse has been dominated by those who trumpet the law and suggest that anyone who is against it is against public schools (when, really, the case can be made that the supporters of NCLB are against public education). What we can do: take our case to the public. There is the public perception that this is a great law and those who speak out against are doing so for negative reasons. We need to change that misconception. We need to make it clear to the public that we are FOR public education and FOR making it better and our point of view is that NCLB is not doing that. We also need to propose alternatives. It is great to say that this isn’t the optimal law, but are we saying what can be done instead and offering real solutions?I heard Alfie Kohn speak at the NCTE conference a couple of weeks ago and he started off his speech saying that it wasn’t the people who disagreed with him that make him angry - it is those people who agree with him and keep silent. I think we can all take his words to heart.

Tim Fredrick
NYC
11/29/04

Judi Fenton
NYC
11/30/04

Carol Delbridge
Sate of Wyoming
11/30/04

Gail Ritchie
Fairfax County, VA
12/1/04

4. CES Founders Launch Educational Policy Think TankTed Sizer and Deborah Meier, along with other school reformers who are familiar to CES members, have launched a new educational policy group called The Forum for Education and Democracy. The stated agenda of the group is to promote a friendlier public policy environment for progressive schools. The Forum’s recent publication, Many Children Left Behind offers a deeply critical look at how the No Child Left Behind Act punishes rather than helps poor and minority kids and is an essential guide to understanding where we go from here. Through their web site, policy papers, editorials, and work with other organizations The Forum promotes strong public schools for a strong democracy. Joining Ted and Deborah in launching The Forum are Larry Myatt, John Goodland, Linda Darling-Hammond, Judith Browne, Wendy Puriefoy, Carl Glickman, Nancy Sizer, Pedro Noguera, Angela Valenzuela and George Wood who directs the work of the Forum. To find out more and to get on their mailing list, visit their web site at www.forumforeducation.org .

Mark Silberberg
NYC
12/1/04