Kids deserve better in schools
A school district in Rhode Island initially cancelled its annual spelling bee this year, and the assistant superintendent gave as grounds for the cancellation that a spelling bee "violates the main principle of the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- that all children should succeed." There are some fairly nutty quotes in the article from the assistant superintendent:
"'It's about one kid winning, several making it to the top and leaving all others behind,' Newman said of the competition, which culminates with the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. 'That's contrary to No Child Left Behind.' A spelling bee, she continued, is about 'some kids being winners, some kids being losers,' which 'sends a message that this isn't an all-kids movement. . . . 'You have to build positive self-esteem for all kids, so they believe they're all winners,' Newman told the Call. 'You want to build positive self-esteem so that all kids can get to where they want to go.'"
A local reporter stated that she thought that winning a spelling bee "just meant you were a good speller."
The officials have re-evaluated their decision, and the spelling bee will now go forward. The decision to cancel seems, to me at least, ridiculous. Although not intimately familiar with NCLB, I can't imagine that it requires no child losing. If that were the case, letter grades should be eliminated and replaced with pass/fail systems, in which all students pass. But that type of silly reform strikes at the heart of what schools are supposed to do -- educate. NCLB should merely require that students who are struggling to keep up are given extra attention to help them learn. It should not, and I believe does not, require that all children learn at the same pace or level.
Kids in public schools deserve better than the "self-esteem" mumbo-jumbo espoused by these educators in Rhode Island. The School Committee Chairman in the second article nails it: "The world is a competitive place, and children need to learn to compete, even at a young age."
"'It's about one kid winning, several making it to the top and leaving all others behind,' Newman said of the competition, which culminates with the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. 'That's contrary to No Child Left Behind.' A spelling bee, she continued, is about 'some kids being winners, some kids being losers,' which 'sends a message that this isn't an all-kids movement. . . . 'You have to build positive self-esteem for all kids, so they believe they're all winners,' Newman told the Call. 'You want to build positive self-esteem so that all kids can get to where they want to go.'"
A local reporter stated that she thought that winning a spelling bee "just meant you were a good speller."
The officials have re-evaluated their decision, and the spelling bee will now go forward. The decision to cancel seems, to me at least, ridiculous. Although not intimately familiar with NCLB, I can't imagine that it requires no child losing. If that were the case, letter grades should be eliminated and replaced with pass/fail systems, in which all students pass. But that type of silly reform strikes at the heart of what schools are supposed to do -- educate. NCLB should merely require that students who are struggling to keep up are given extra attention to help them learn. It should not, and I believe does not, require that all children learn at the same pace or level.
Kids in public schools deserve better than the "self-esteem" mumbo-jumbo espoused by these educators in Rhode Island. The School Committee Chairman in the second article nails it: "The world is a competitive place, and children need to learn to compete, even at a young age."
posted by Hal | 10:27 AM
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