Fix the School, Not the Child

The edtechtalk.com discussion Fix the School, Not the Child with "Innovative Educator" Lisa Nielsen examines the problems of standardized assessments in schools in the United States and how parents can become empowered to take control of their child's education.  Nielsen draws on a vast amount of educational experience including work as a literacy and technology coach and library and media specialist. She is an "innovative specialist" based out of New York City who maintains a blog called the Native Educator and regularly writes for the Huffington Post.  The discussion focused on an ebook that she published, which is available for free on her blog, call Fix the School, Not the Child.

Nielsen got the idea for Fix the School, Not the Child after watching the movie "Race to Nowhere".  She was surprised by the movie, which is dedicated to a girl who committed suicide after perceiving herself as a failure in math.  The movie outlines the pressure placed on students to be the best to get into the top colleges, but results in some students becoming mentally and physically ill.  Nielsen discusses how the movie brings to light the problem with testing and student pressure, but she felt that the movie did not address how parents could be empowered to reclaim ownership over their child's education.  The idea of parental empowerment is the main idea of Fix the School, Not the Child.  


Fix the School, Not the Child  provides parents with twenty ways that they can take control.  The main point that the discussion comes back to is that students should enjoy what they are learning, learning how they want to learn, and that parents need to be able to find their voice in their child's education.  Nielsen discusses that some child should opt out of testing and this can only be done through parental involvement. She argues that the tests are not fair or equal and do not measure different learning styles and that students should have a choice in taking the assessment.  Nielsen points out that some students may enjoy the structure of the test and it is appropriate for their learning style, however there are many other students who need to demonstrate their knowledge through another vehicle.

The problem of student boredom seems to be growing at an explosive rate.  Many students are bored and are simply completing high school because they have to complete high school.  This ties in with our country's obsession with a piece of paper, or, as Nielsen points out, we are simply "paper trained".  However, some students have opted out and have created learning path plans.  Nielsen discusses a girl who "opted out" of high school and created a learning plan that included mentors, blogs, learning resources, how she would spend her days, and why the school is not giving her what she needs. The student is states, "I left school because my light was growing dim".

Another problem with schools and boredom that many parents may not understand is that education has evolved to include more math, more testing, more pressure and less opportunity for choice and electives. The choice needs to come back to the kids in school and maybe opting out is one of the choices that needs to be made.  There is a growing underground homeschool education movement going on right now in the United States.  Perhaps more and more students and parents are going to become empowered to find another path that is more suited for their child's interests and strengths.

Public education policy makers need to realize that while all students need to be held accountable, different measures need to be used to demonstrate that students are indeed successful.  How is a student which a deficit in reading going to demonstrate math understand when he or she cannot read the word problem?

While Nielsen makes the argument that we need a more student center and personalized approach there appears to be no change in sight when it comes to standardized tests.  Does exempting a child from standardized assessments benefit or hurt the student?  Only time will tell.