You down with NCLB? Yeah you know me!

I saw a blog on No Child Left Behind and I just couldn't resist throwing my hat into the ring. Being an educator of seven years I have seen the impact that NCLB has had on my school and the delivery of curriculum. In the state of Pennsylvania students all over the state recently participated in the PSSA assessments which measure student proficiency in writing, math, reading, and science. To assess these four content areas, approximately two weeks was set aside to administer the tests.  I must admit that there are many downsides to such assessments and my colleague James is correct in his statement that there are many educators that are adamantly opposed to these tests, but unfortunately educators are going to have to accept the fact that NCLB is here to stay. Whether the legislation is called NCLB or if it takes on another name, accountability and high stakes testing will not go away. As an educator, we spend a great amount of time focusing on meeting state standards and benchmarks, however I must say that this can be a good thing. Why are people so opposed to NCLB tests, however we have no problem with Advanced Placement courses which are tailored entirely for the assessment. Anybody who has taken an AP course will tell you that a great deal of class is spent reviewing and preparing for the exam. Why is this acceptable for the intellectual students, however we hate the fact that students in regular education and special education classes are being held to standards. I agree that creativity and project based learning has suffered somewhat under NCLB, but students are being forced to learn fundamental concepts that are required of any degree bearing institution. Perhaps James makes his best point where he says is education preparing students for the 21st century? I don't think a series of assessments necessarily leads to the heart of the problem. I think the problem stems from our culture whereby education is not valued. NCLB is an easy target for much larger issues. I could spend a great amount of time as an educator complaining about NCLB, or I could man up, accept the system, and rise above.  I have chosen the second option, and I only hope that more of my colleagues follow my example.