Tomorrow I have an interview for a position teaching middle school gifted students. I hope it goes well, as I am worried about the gifted students not getting what they need in the regular classroom thanks to "No Child Gets Ahead." I am including a copy below of an email that went around for a while that is a very good description of the way "No Child Left Behind" actually works:
No Child Left Behind:The Football Version
Author Unknown*
Author Unknown*
l. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL
3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don't like football.
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games.
5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.
If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.
1 comment:
Oh, this is so true in the UK too - I retired last year, but it seemed that we were so busy trying to make everyone 'average' (does no-one in government have a basic understanding of maths?) that the most able got left out. Don't governments love these vote catching phrases. Ours is Every Child Matters.
Post a Comment