NCLB Braniac Admits Failure

An article in the National Review seems to show Michael J. Petrilli, one of the major writers of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, and co-author of the book "No Child Left Behind: A Primer" has concluded the NCLB "as enacted is fundamentally flawed and beyond repair."

Among critical problems he cites:

The mandate of "highly qualified teachers" was a good idea, but the NCLB stated that local school authorities were in charge of defining what was highly qualified, leading to a "race to the bottom".

Schools have become "test-prep factories." They teach to the new standardized tests instead of developing real academic skills.

School choice laws are meaningless because there aren't enough really good schools, and no useful mechanism to improve poor schools.

He reportedly says that he still believes in the underlying theories that inspired the law, but that the mechanism of the NCLB is fatally flawed.

As for one who is a teacher, and has seen my wife teach in the "test-prep factories" of California...

DUH!

Robot Teacher for Japan

As if teachers are worried about their jobs enough as it is, now we have to beware of technology. It seems that a Japanese inventor has designed a robot to teach in Japanese Primary schools. Named Saha, the robot can take role, give lessons from a prepared text, even shows emotion. Of course, I am wondering how the robot will do answering questions like "Why does Johnny stand up when he goes pee" and chasing after young students who don't understand what they are supposed to do. See the full story about Saha, the robot teacher from Japan, here.