The “Overachievers”

Readers may remember from my earlier posts that I talked about how at Wolfle (seen below) I was considered an overachiever.

The first problem is that the negative characterization of people who would work hard at school, the image carried on even in junior high school.

The other problem is the way the educational system dealt with overachievers.

I remember that in third grade the reading groups were separated into three groups. Those who were behind, average, and above the grade level in reading. In my reading group we finished the textbook weeks before the other groups, so the teacher told us to read the book again because we didn’t have anymore.

The problem with standardized testing is that the people who are at the bottom get the teachers attention, while the people who are ahead in subject matter aren’t being taught. Smart student were being taught to coast at a very young age.
The current homework policy of Wolfle Elementary is to read for 20 minutes, and practice math for five. This is a failure to prepare students for college. Nine years later the curriculum at Wolfle doesn’t even seemed to have changed.

The failure comes from NCLB, becuase teachers must teach to the test instead of preparing them for college. Clearly NCLB is not effective legilsation in rural schools.