July 19, 2007
NCLB: Four Bubble Observations
The report that was put out earlier this week on the bubble effect caused by NCLB (the theory is that by focusing on the numbers of students who test 'proficient', NCLB has created an incentive for schools to place most of their focus on kids closest to becoming proficient, rather than focusing on the weakest overall performers) has gotten a lot of attention.
I was at the AEI conference in DC on Monday where it was unveilled, and am generally interested in looking closely at the unintended consequences (real or perceived) of major policies like this.
But there were four things I came away feeling needed additional attention after the report was released and hashed-out by a panel of respondents.
1. The thesis, if you buy it, seems to suggests that incentives do matter. That education systems do react in ways (intended and unintended) that can be prompted by important federal legislation like NCLB. If the federal government can have a negative effect, it can just as easily (under the right circumstances) have a positive effect.
2. Charles Murray gives me heartburn. I used to blame it on the food I ate before hearing him speak back in the Bell Curve days. But listening to him this week reminded me it was probably never the food. (Stupid kids will always be stupid kids, so why bother...)
3. The suggestion was made several times that it is "cruel" to subject kids to NCLB's requirements that they show a VERY BASIC level of literacy and numeracy. Basic levels. But shouldn't the argument be that it is "cruel" to not expect that all kids will jump over the bar that we all admit is probably even lower than it should be? This is not new, obviously, but it is sometimes surprising how we let the debate over NCLB drift from this area.
4. I was somewhat surprised by (and somewhat fired up about) the level of feistiness that drove the Department of Education's response to the report. Doug Mesecar, acting assistant secretary, was on the panel and showed that there may finally be some wind behind the department's NCLB sails. Doug didn't concede anything, and battled back aggressively at times. Nice to see. Should make the coming weeks/months interesting in terms of the reauthorization battle.
