Is Congress ready to leave 'No Child Left Behind' behind?
A bipartisan team of lawmakers has , a set of federal education standards which have provoked fierce debate since their introduction in 2001.聽
Although the exact changes to the law are still unknown, standardized testing would still be required for grades three through eight, and once in high school, .
Remarks from a speech given by Education Secretary Arne Duncan in January might offer some other clues.
Mr. Duncan spoke about how important 鈥溾�� is, and the necessity of 鈥淸working] with Congress [and the states] to 鈥� review and streamline the tests they are giving and eliminate redundant and unnecessary tests.鈥�
According to an October report by the Council of Great City Schools 鈥� a committee of superintendents and school-board members that oversee the 66 largest urban school districts in America 鈥� 20 to 25 hours are spent on some kind of testing at each grade level, .
Many teachers and parents are beginning to protest what they perceive as a culture of 鈥渙ver-testing鈥� in the public school system.
In April, 海角大神 reported on a group of parents in Boulder, Colorado who began keeping their elementary-age children from taking that state鈥檚 annual assessment measures, after getting support from other parents and the go-ahead from teachers.
"The feedback I got was that only when an educated group of parents takes a stand against this colossal waste of time will anything change," one parent told the Monitor.
In October President Obama announced that the Department of Education would work with Congress and the states to limit the amount of tests students are required to take.
鈥淟earning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble,鈥欌�� Mr. Obama said in a . 鈥樷�楽o we鈥檙e going to work with states, school districts, teachers and parents to make sure that we鈥檙e not obsessing about testing.鈥欌��
鈥淚 still have no question that we to make sure our kids are on track or identify areas where they need support,鈥� Duncan told The New York Times. 鈥淏ut I can鈥檛 tell you how many conversations I鈥檓 in with educators who are understandably stressed and concerned about an overemphasis on testing in some places and how much time testing and test prep are taking from instruction.鈥�
