The New York Times editorial of February 21, 2015 (“Don’t Give up the Gains in Education” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/opinion/sunday/dont-give-up-the-gains-in-education.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0 ) makes reasonable arguments if you are willing to accept its very traditional premise: the school is the locus of educational improvement.
But recent research challenges that premise.
The Economist’s “The Learning Curve” reports demonstrate that it’s the “surrounding culture,” not the school, that is the principal driver of educational success. Cultures are successful if people believe in the importance of learning and consider that, with appropriate effort, every child can be successful in education. School funding, teacher training, testing, etc. are all secondary factors. There’s strong evidence that attitudes about learning trump even poverty.
The gains that the Times attributes to No Child Left Behind are real but modest, while the achievements of educationally-focused cultures are huge.
It’s time that our nation looks beyond the classroom and begins to consider the whole range of factors that affect learning. No Child Left Behind is a sideshow, not the main event.
