Varying Standards May Hurt "No Child"

Current Event # 2
Lauren Edmonds
Varying Standards May Hurt "No Child"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302481.html?nav=rss_education

This article points out the need for national testing standards. The core mission of NCLB is to "to push all students to score well in reading and math." However, each state has different testing methods and some are much easier than others. According to this article "93 percent of students who took the MAP exam would have passed Colorado's third-grade reading test, while 39 percent would have passed California's." The basic idea of NCLB can't operate efficiently unless all students are held to the same standards. National standards are going to take a lot of work to create and implement, but in the end it will be beneficial to the students countrywide. A great quote from Michael J. Petrilli, vice president for national programs and policy, wrote in the study. "What is the meaning of measurable academic gains . . . if the yardstick is elastic?"

My first question is, why after several years after implementing the NCLB haven't there been nation standards. This should have been stage one in creating NCLB.

I remember when Bloomberg was up for re-election how easy the test was. I had been a teacher for 3 years and I had seen the tests in previous years. This ELA exam was one of the easiest exams I had come across. Not only was it the easiest State Exam, but even the practice exams I had given to my students. That year every student passed in my class. And by "passed" I mean got a 2 or above. There were students in that class that had an average of 14. But they passed the test so they passed the year. If there were national standards these students might have been held to a higher standard and would have been forced to pass the exam before going to the next grade.

If the tests are so much easier in one state than in the next, how are week going to ensure the literacy across the country in the future? Maryland has one of the easiest exams in the country. They claim that they hold their students to a high standard. But if they are ranked 22 out of 26, how is that possible? Having national goals for every child would benefit the future of our country's literacy.

Even though it is going to be a great challenge to impose national standards now, wouldn't it be more difficult to do it in 10, 15 or 20 years from now? Why wait to see what will happen? National standards should be implemented as soon as possible.