Affirming What Works

I’m glad to meet you through this blog and look forward to our sharing ideas over the months ahead. One advantage of blogging is that as we discuss forthrightly high priority or emerging issues that affect our teaching and learning, we don’t have to have organized all our thoughts on a topic or settled on solutions for problems. We can think aloud together as we consider matters that count.

One place I read about matters that count in the world is in the newspaper. A joy of living in Washington for me is starting the day by reading The Washington Post. A recent editorial and a recent column both focused on No Child Left Behind. The authors argue that we must look beyond “mere accountability toward the even more difficult, substantive question of how to improve schools.” This call for refocus implies that NCLB does not help improve schools through a focus on testing. NCTE, in fact, agreed with that contention by signing on last October to a statement by multiple organizations calling for fair testing. Indeed, in an Education Week article on August 31, 2005, about the ways in which civil rights groups split over NCLB, that statement is cited. NCTE is on record.

But, in his Post column David Broder contends that no matter the outcome of current legal battles about NCLB between states and the feds, a more productive approach to improvement is to pay attention to recommendations by a task force created by the Center for American Progress and other partners. These organizations found programs across the country that work and could be expanded to national scale -- if the political will and resources were present.

You’ll recognize some of the suggestions because NCTE supports them through its programs and initiatives:

• Strengthen the high school curriculum
• Improve student assessments beyond current tests
• Upgrade teacher training and rewards

The issue is scalability. The Post editorial reports that last spring Rep. George Miller from California put forward a bill that builds on successful state programs. John Boehner, who heads the Committee, has said that he expects some of Miller’s suggestions to be incorporated into legislation this fall. The editorial concludes: “It’s a good start. When Congress comes back to town this fall—and the new school year begins—this debate should begin again in earnest.” Well, that time is now.

As the school year begins, teachers can consciously think about and share with others what works in their classrooms. Even with the negative pressures of NCLB, we all can follow the Post writers’ call to draw attention to programs that improve student learning. NCTE members are at the heart of such programs and need to be heard.