Sunday, September 16, 2007

No points for "endearing stylistic eccentricity" under NCLB

Jonathan Kozol offers a little rant (and explanation for his partial hunger-strike) about the No Child Left Behind act at Huffpo. Did you know that "sophisticated" "methods of assessment" allow one to grade for "authenticity"? I must keep up more with developments in education:
Sophisticated as opposed to low-grade methods of assessment would not only tell us whether little Oscar or Shaniqua started out their essays with "a topic sentence" but would also tell us whether they wrote something with the slightest hint of authenticity and charm or simply stamped out insincere placebos. (A child gets no credit for originality or authenticity under No Child Left Behind. Sincerity gets no rewards. Endearing stylistic eccentricity, needless to say, is not rewarded either. That which can't be measured is not valued by the technocrats of uniformity who have designed this miserable piece of legislation.)
Is whether or not to give credit for "endearing stylistic eccentricity" dealt with so minutely in NCLB? I would like to see the language of the provisions which discuss this topic.

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