Let's begin with a fact... today's schools are far more effective than the legions of pundits, politicians, and media moguls would have you believe (e.g. see the work of Gerald Bracey). Teachers, support staff, and school administrators are more knowledgeable, highly skilled, and better trained than at any time in history. For the most part, schools are doing what they were designed to do.
The problem we face is a mis-match between what the educational system was designed to do and what is now expected. All students can learn, but not in a system that was intended for grading and sorting. Reforms that overlook the central issue of this system mis-match are doomed to failure, while reinforcing the public perception that educators are failing.
In effect, NCLB has promised the impossible while doing a great deal of collateral damage. Growing numbers of reports, countless stories from the field, as well as personal experience, point to narrowing curricula, joyless classrooms, an exodus of creative professionals, and a loss of public confidence in public schooling.
I am not arguing with the goal of leaving no child behind. Rather, it is way that NCLB reinforces the industrial paradigm. In the remainder of this "presentation" we will explain how it is that NCLB is making matters worse, and how we can turn this crisis into an opportunity to transform our system of public education.
