Many of the people commenting on here are obviously not educators who are in the trenches everyday. Have you ever looked up the definitions for assessment? For example, a child can pass the test and meet basic skills, but according to the definition, the child is almost illiterate, but they somehow meet basic skill requirements. And we are blindly proud of meeting AYP because we are more concerned about a symbol of learning (test score) rather than questioning what has actually been learned. Secondly, I cannot believe that a so-called Conservative Congress would allow politicians to interfere in education. Again, some people do not understand what it means to be conservative (hint: it does not mean God, Guns, and Gays). Politicians have no place in our school systems because they are there simply for votes, not for the well-being of our children. I wish that President Bush and some of the members of Congress would see even the so-called top tier students that have been created from the so-called No Child Left Behind Generation. They lack analytical skills because as one poster mentioned anyone can guess. The skills are not applicable outside of the classroom. And the list goes on. I am tired of non-educators being allowed to preach to teachers about what they need to do. What really makes me angry is that people like President Bush got their degree based on legacy programs, you know a synonym for affirmative action but people are willing to put up with it because it does not usually benefit women, minorities, or the poor.
