Hearing and Hearings

Congress holds lots of hearings on important matters. And sure, we can watch these on C-SPAN. But sitting in on one, the listener (at least, “this listener”) expects more substance…. This is especially true if the Hearing has a lofty title, such as “How Innovative Educators are Integrating Subject Matter to Improve Student Achievement.” Before attending, one conjures up great expectations about how NCLB has fostered this “new way of teaching” (or perhaps, how it has not).

NCTE recently did a survey of more than 2000 members to get their views on how NCLB had impacted them. (Results of the survey will be released soon.) So I thought the Hearing would provide some testimony that perhaps our survey had missed. While it was clear that all who testified had tapped into the energy and learning potential of their students, to my dismay, I heard nothing that was illustrative of innovative ways of teaching. And none of even the best ideas (and that is stretching it) seemed directly related to NCLB. Where was the connection? Where were the transitions? Where were the cause and effect examples? What could I report? Ahh, but maybe I am thinking too much like an English teacher, or maybe just a careful listener – waiting for/hoping for the point?

How has NCLB fostered new innovative teaching? Tell me in clear identifiable ways.