News Headlines
Source: Appalachian News-Express, Pikeville, March 10, 2010
No excuses acceptable
No Child Left Behind means just that: No kids should fall through the cracks
By EDITORIAL
In life, you are all but guaranteed to encounter results which fail to meet expectations. How the results are met determines a great deal about the course of your life. In business, you will hear that industry leaders want people to make solutions, not excuses.
And it’s that mantra which made last month’s meeting of the Pike County School Board so disappointing.
In September, No Child Left Behind scores were released and the Pike County Schools were informed the district did not meet overall standards and also failed to meet its goals in reading and math. At the time, Carlette Harris, assessment coordinator for the Pike County school district said she was unhappy with the results, which she said she expected due to the district’s graduation rates.
“We are disappointed. I was devastated that we did not meet all of our goals,” she said.
Her tune had changed a bit by the February meeting, at which new members elected to the board since the release of NCLB results were informed of the results.
“We knew that it was coming, it’s coming to every school district in this United States until No Child Left Behind is changed,” Harris said. “The way it’s set up right now it’s not a matter of, are you going to fail, it’s a matter of when you’re going to fail.”
There has been plenty of criticism heaped upon No Child Left Behind. Clearly the system is flawed, but no testing structure, no test, no way of ranking all the schools in America is prfect. And no matter the likelihood of failure, it is not something that should ever be accepted. Goals should be difficult to attain. If they are too easy to reach, then the standards simply aren’t high enough.
We want out education leaders to be “devastated” that the district failed. We want that devastation to fuel a desire to improve our schools and produce better-educated, better-prepared students.
But the most shocking statements to come from the February school board meeting came from new board member, Dr. Chuck Johnson, who said our students failed on No Child Left Behind standards because Pike County is larger than most counties and more mountainous, therefore missing more snow days.
“I know these test scores are based on the whole state, but due to the size of our county and the terrain it’s not our fault we have to miss a lot more days than these other schools,” he said.
What Johnson doesn’t realize is this should not be about fault and assigning blame. It’s about finding solutions instead of excuses. We must face the reality of small mountainous roads and tough winters and find a way to ensure that our kids are prepared not only for standardized testing, but also to advance to the next grade, then on to college and into the workforce.
It’s about answers, not excuses.
“But we’re not getting as many instructional days as these other schools. I think that’s a big concern,” Johnson continued. “I think there’s no doubt your test scores are going to be lower when you’re not in the classroom as much. Especially if you’re going to be rated or based on someone next to you that’s going to be in school.”
We’re sure Johnson doesn’t believe that Pike County should not be evaluated against the rest of the state. The people of Eastern Kentucky have long since risen above the notion that our terrain limits the expectations and abilities of the people of Central Appalachia.
Make no mistake, No Child Left Behind has drawn criticism nationwide. In Minnesota, an on-line poll revealed that most school principals believe NCLB’s goal of having every student
proficient in both math and reading by 2014 is unattainable.
If one is not careful, it’s easy to agree with those administrators and with Johnson. It’s easy to look at the statistics and say 100 percent achievement is not reasonable, that too many snow days are to blame, that the standards are too high. But we want out education officials to step away from the statistics and understand that it’s unacceptable to look at even one student and tell them it’s just reality that they will not be proficient in reading or math … that they are the kid who is gonna slip through the cracks.
It’s nothing personal, it’s just reality.