No Child Left Behind - Again

As some of you must know by now, I'm not a fan of the No Child Left Behind Act, mainly because of its effects on gifted children. Although the stack of evidence that NCLB has had a negative effect on gifted education, some people still tell me that gifted children continue to get an excellent education.  I could quibble with the word "continue" here since it implies that gifted children were getting an excellent education to begin with, but since the issue is NCLB, I'll let that one go.

Yet another article, this one by Jennie Smith, a high school teacher in the Miami-Dade County public school system, explains how the NCLB's emphasis on testing is harming the education of all children, not just gifted kids. In her article How No Child Left Behind makes sure no child gets ahead, Smith reminds us that the tests required by NCLB are tests of minimal skill levels.

What does that mean for gifted kids who have reached those minimal skill levels long before their peers? Are they given more advanced work?  Not usually. Are they moved up a grade so that they can work to achieve the next skill level?  Nope.   They are generally required to sit in class and wait patiently for the other kids to catch up -- not to their level, but to those minimal skill levels.

Smith admits, as many of us do, that the goals of No Child Left Behind are laudable, but the goals simply aren't being reached.  And it certainly isn't helping gifted kids.  As Smith says, "Making sure no child gets left behind should not mean holding the rest of the children back so that no child gets ahead, either."

What do you think?