What do you think about NCLB?

Does the "Highly Qualified & Effective Teacher (HQET)" mandate in NCLB set teachers up for failure?

• Congress is about to debate the re-authorization of The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A report by the Aspen Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, suggests that a renewed NCLB should place more emphasis on the "Highly Qualified and Effective Teacher (HQET) mandate. The National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are against the expansion of the HQET mandate as part of a newly revamped version of NCLB. Both organizations feel that the HQET is a "non-starter" in the NCLB debate and that the HQET provision only "sets teachers up for failure." What is the best way to determine if a teacher is "Highly Qualified" to teach?

• Answer:

  The problem with the HQET is that each district gets to decide how they determine if their teachers are highly qualified or not. So basically, the district can make the rules and hq anyone they want using years of experience, testing results, college degrees, etc. The problem with the entire NCLB law is that it is based on one state assessment. So kids can do poorly because they are sick, they did not take their meds that morning, they were up late on the computer, they got tired of reading and just bubbled, they know the test does not count against them so they just bubbled, their boyfriend/girlfriend made them mad that morning so they are daydreaming, the list goes on and on. I do think there should be some kind of rule in place to make sure we have good teachers. However, students should also share in the responsibility of their own learning. And parents should share in the responsibility also.