April marked a historic time for the public school system as President Obama and Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, announced that they were drafting a blueprint to “overhaul” the No Child Left Behind policy and improve the quality of the nation’s schools – exactly what the current policy left behind. Though they are only in the planning process, this is the one of the greatest and most desirable moves the White House has made to date – even more so than healthcare reform.
In Florida, we are all too familiar with the No Child Left Behind policy, specifically with the creation of the FCAT and other standardized tests that are supposed to be used to gauge students’ knowledge and education. “Supposed to” is the key phrase here. According to teachers’ complaints, the FCAT has forced teachers to teach only for the test. As a result, students are learning to perform well on the test when they should be learning the material.
Florida’s current educational model puts the FCAT at the forefront of students’ education, so instead of actually giving students real knowledge – like, say, what a helping verb is and its usage – teachers are forced to teach them how to perform well on the test. Given this model, how could anyone expect students to be prepared for college when their entire high school education was spent learning how to take a standardized test? Not exactly the most useful skill.
Obviously, students can’t, which is the reason Florida and many other states are struggling with the fact that students are graduating without a real education. What makes Obama and Duncan’s move so important is that it’s putting education back into the hands of teachers and students – where it belongs.
If Obama and Duncan succeed in repairing this broken system, the quality of education that students receive, in every corner of this country, will improve and students will once again be prepared to continue studies or join the workforce. That means, along with the help of last year’s financial aid bill, attendance at universities will continue to grow and more students will be able to receive the kind of instruction and training they’ll need to be successful.
More than anything, this will give students and teachers a chance to truly engage with one another, which is a significant part of education in the first place. Interaction in the classroom is what teaches students how to think critically and be made aware of the events happening around them. This new policy offers new hope for the future of education and every person in the U.S. – finally leaving no child behind.
