By Stephen Krashen Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California
Jack Neworth (“If Bush knew then what he knows... ah, forget it,” Jan. 26, page 5) sees through (President) Bush’s claims about the Iraq war. What is generally not well known is the administration’s duplicity in the area of education. In his State of the Union address, Bush stated that “the No Child Left Behind Act has worked for America’s children.” Earlier in the day, the White House issued a statement (“Building On Results: A Blueprint For Strengthening NCLB”) that claimed “student achievement is rising — more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds in five years than in the previous 28 years combined, and reading and math scores for 9-year-olds and fourth-graders have reached all-time highs.”
These are disingenuous statements. The administration is talking about national reading tests (the “NAEP”). No Child Left Behind does not deserve the credit for the five-year (1999-2004) jump on NAEP. The 1999-2004 analysis is based on “trend” scores, equivalent tests given in 1999 and 2004: NCLB was not introduced until 2002- 03. A look at the regular NAEP tests given between 1999 and 2004 suggests that the jump occurred between 2000 and 2002, before NCLB was implemented. And a great deal of the improvement over the last 28 years took place before 1999!
This is a very serious matter. No Child Left Behind has turned schools into test-prep centers, has reduced reading instruction to phonics exercises, and has encouraged the elimination of in-school free reading. The administration is claiming that it “works” and wants to expand it to high schools. Its renewal depends crucially on the claims that it has worked. But these claims are as bogus as claims about weapons of mass destruction.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 30, 2007. Read the original PDF.