Let Teachers Teach: One Size Fits All Approach to Education Will Never Work

Statement

By James Brown

The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) released the results of their latest report card project late last week. Within Connecticut's Third District, 20 schools received an A, while were 12 schools received a failing grade. Young people in schools like these all across Connecticut's Third Congressional District need help.

The federal government has been getting between teachers and their students for too long. No Child Left Behind introduced mandatory annual testing to schools receiving federal funding nationwide. The common core standards were similarly forced onto states when adoption of the standards was tied to the possibility of receiving federal grants through a competition called Race to the Top. Only 15 states and the District of Columbia received Race to the Top funding. Connecticut did not receive a dime. Even after news broke that we would not be awarded grant money, our state government went ahead with the implementation of the common core standards.

It is time get the federal government out of the classroom and let teachers customize their lesson plans uniquely for their students. One size fits all educational standards are harmful to all of our students. Each city and school in our district has different needs. What works for one group of kids will not necessarily work for another group.

The government closest to the student, the local Boards of Education, should be driving the curriculum. These are the people closest to the community, and the students. While technically this is being done, the Boards of Education look to the state and federal standards and assessments to see how, when, and what their students will be tested on. This creates the dreaded phenomena of "teaching to the test." Teachers and students become exasperated trying to keep up with the moving targets set by the federal and state governments. The students know they're being taught specifically for a particular assessment. We should be encouraging the idea of learning for the sake of gaining knowledge. Learning simply to pass a test written by Washington insiders with special interests in mind hurts student and teacher morale.

Standardized tests are not ideal, but they can be used in a more productive manner. If we used these exams as diagnostic tools to show us where we should focus our attention, the quality of education in our country can improve. We need to end the era of punitive benchmark exams that are tied to federal funds. It is not doing right by our parents, students and teachers, and it imperils future generations.

James Brown
Candidate for U.S. Congress
Connecticut's Third District

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