While many citizen believe in the "No Child Left Behind Act" and strongly maintain it as being of value to the educational environment, in actuality, it is hurting many of our young students. The No Child Left Behind Act was conceived in an exertion to heighten the execution of students attending Kindergarten straight through grades 12. However, the idea of addition the standards of responsibility for states, school districts and schools is having a negative impact on many of our brightest students. Based on my many years of working within the school system, I have seen some of the most talented minds being left behind based strictly on their so-called inability to learn. While some comprehend sure young citizen as difficult learners, the real truth is they plainly learn differently.
The Impact of Driving Test Scores up Creates an Educational Meltdown
Center Drill
In an exertion to heighten test scores; our nation's teachers are under constant pressure to drive test execution upwards at the end of each school year. However, teaching using a test-prep orientation has all but eliminated curriculums that encourage students to institute creative, problem-solving notion processes. In fact, risk taking, brainstorming and studying straight through experimentation, is nearly extinct. Yet, these are the strict skills that generate an inherent drive toward studying and are necessary processes for many types of learners.
In a new study surrounded by classroom teachers, it was discovered that while teachers value some creative thinking, a creative student is often considered undesirable in the classroom setting. Qualities that rank as most valued among teachers come from students who follows rules, work quietly and who can complete pencil-paper tasks. In contrast, one of America's prominent corporations recently released a study, which indicated that the many need for time to come corporate success will be found among employees with strong creative reasoning skills. In other words, employees that are able to problem-solve, think exterior of the box, and take risks are the most desirable. So, if that's the case, how will our children strengthen on these skills when they are not being given the occasion to institute them?
Drill and Kill
To quote Monty Neill: "Today's drill and kill curriculum undermines rather than improves the capability of education." I agree. In fact, in my opinion, it is draining the life out of many students, destroying creativity and ingenuity. Creative minds are honestly "checking out" of the educational environment, while those with concentration difficulties, deficits in writing, and weak insight skills are rapidly growing in numbers. What's happening? Instead of seeing a way to match all studying styles, schools continue to cater to left-hemisphere thinkers, factoring out some of our brightest and most creative students, students that are honestly right-brained learners.
The Need to strengthen on Right Hemisphere Processing
While schools have done an extraordinary job focusing on the amelioration of the left-hemisphere of the brain, many programs have virtually factored out the inherent need to foster and strengthen on right-hemisphere processing. The ever addition use of rote memorization and test-prep studying is causing an overload within the left hemisphere, creating a stress response in the brain and bringing about a disconnect in the middle of the two hemispheres. However, the two hemispheres of the brain are designed to be intricately linked. The right hemisphere is the mechanism for conceptual insight and deep personal meaning. It is a picture-making engine that market vast qualities of data within a particular snapshot. The left side of the brain hosts the language town and while this hemisphere is logical and sequential, it cannot understand a notion until it is able to build a link with the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere of the brain needs the occasion to institute optical images, build tactile models, gift and assimilate data straight through group interactions and creative dialogue.
It's Never Too Late to Get education Right
Now is the time. In today's world, we are more adequate than ever to teach all children how to honestly learn. Use of video, image streaming, and the capability to substitute rote memorization with right-brain studying strategies are incredibly sufficient ways to successfully teach both right and left dominant children. Original school systems must let go of the idea that a good education is a gift given only to a strong left-hemisphere thinker. Our right-brained thinkers must move out of the 'middle' of the bell curve and claim their place at the front of the class. Valuing creative notion is the necessary key to securing a strong, cutting edge cheaper for our children.
Copyright2010
The No Child Left Behind Act - It's Hurting Our Children!