Since its inception, The No Child Left Behind Act has gotten a tremedous amount of publicity, and for the right reasons. Its unreasonable goals (not that it is ok for children to leave high school illeterate or poor in math, but between funding and 50 years of anti-intellectual culture) put educators and students in stressful positions that will eventually lead to failure. So we need to ask ourselves, what was the purpose and what are the goals? While NCLB may not be forever, the future of schooling will not remain the same. In 2007, a group called the NAtional Center on Education and the Economy issued a report called Tough Choices or Tough Times. While it was clear that the purpose is to reinvent the educational system so that the United States, the suggestions that they gave are pretty shocking. According to them, conventional high school would end at 10th grade and students would be funnelled into different areas - either to tech school to work, college track, or other "additional academics."
This would make one wonder the real intentions and purposes of all this. Is this part of a wider change that is going on in the world? Or is it simply another way to ready the population to take part in a democratic society?
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3 comments:
The National Center for Education and the Economy sees the only purpose of education as being a servant to the market and businesses. In that context, their conclusions aren't that shocking. After all, you don't have to know a lot to work in certain jobs. Marc Tucker (the head of the NCEE) has long been a proponent of this.
Just to clarify - when you say that the NCEE sees the only purpose of education as being a servant to the market and business, do you think they are the exception or the norm among major think tanks that have influence over ed reform?
After reading your posting, I believe that The National Center for Education and the Economy has some good goals, but ther motives are questionable. I personally do not disagree with the idea of a conventional high school ending at the 10th grade and the students then have the opportunity to focus in on their hobbies and possible future plans. Unfortunately, politics play a huge part in education and are the motives as pure as I would like, I am not too sure. You definately gavce me some things to think about, thank you.
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