Great Moments In Lobbying

One Reply to “Great Moments In Lobbying”

1. In 2004, Rep. Miller had not yet concluded that the NCLB brand had been damaged, the 2008 presidential candidates had not yet gotten an earful from the voters, and, for all I know, the majority of teachers had not yet reached the firm conclusion that NCLB-type accountability can’t be salvaged. Then consider all the new research, especially the Mass Insight document you cited.

   But we’ve debated that before so again I’d like to ask a question.

   This may be naive, but I honestly believe that if we could have a conversation about this issue, the NCLB approach would be repudiated.

   You and others rightly praised Trixie’s proposal for Associate Teachers. Her idea would produce a lot of good, but I’d like to focus on one of its virtues. If you put more than one adult in classrooms, would they become more accountable? Peer pressure, personal accountability or whatever you want to call it would create a much stronger culture of accountability.

   So, here’s my thought experiment. If we could evaluate the benefits of a national system of test-driven accountability. And compare that to the benefits that would accrue from personal accountability. Which would be more effective?

   I would argue that the peer pressure that resulted from Trixie’s proposal would be far greater than any data-driven system. And that would just be a bonus!

   Again, my arguemnts often get responses. But my sincere questions and my requests for dialogue are usually ignored. I know you have plenty of institutional pressures that help make a “stay the course” approach seem attractive. But if we (and by we I mean the larger educational community)had a real conversation, I bet the majority of the Ed Sector could agree to put their considerable talents to solutions that are just more promising.