Week
6 Article 2
1. Mellon,
E. (2013 October, 1). Waiver reduces sanctions for Texas schools. The Houston
Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Waiver-reduces-sanctions-for-Texas-schools-4858072.php
2. Category
of Problem: Education
3. Level
of Problem: Local
4. Article
concerns: Receiving a waiver for the No child left Behind Act.
5. Affects
families/individuals: This directly affects the teachers and the principals of
the HISD schools. This allows them to
make some decisions for their schools in particular in order to raise their
test scores.
6. My
concerns: I think that receiving this waiver is very beneficial to the schools.
It allows them to not be punished for their students low test scores but rather
give them the opportunity to come up with solutions to their problems. Getting
control over their financials is also very beneficial. Sometimes an outside
source does not know what the best way to spend the schools money is. The principal
of that school knows how its staff and students function and should be able to
choose how and what they spend their money on. By giving the school control
over what they spend their money on it allows them the chance to improve the
learning environment for their students. They have the ability to hone in on
their problems and really be able to fix them.
Working in a high school I see all kids scores on their standardized tests and they really worry me. But if there aren't resources to reach out to these kids then they fall through the cracks and skating by through high school and that's where their education stops. No Child Left Behind is very beneficial I think because they are looking more proactively on the test scores rather than punishing the schools. Now, I am not a fan of standardized tests at all, I think it takes creativity and imagination out of the classroom, but if we are going to have them, they have to be seen as a guide, not as an end all be all. These test scores should be used to advise teachers on subjects they need to work on and what students need more of their help, not a guide directly effecting the teacher, not a guide on how much money to gve to schools or what schools deserve better opportunities. We need recognize that schools are here to help our kids not punish them for their low test scores.
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