Have you ever stopped to think about the consequences of the “no child left behind” approach to education? It sounds great, we want to make sure that all students achieve a certain level of success in their education. We don’t want to abandon the students that are falling behind, we want to help them catch up. But what are the consequences? If we are paying extra attention to the slowest students, what are the alternative uses of this attention?
There is mounting evidence that suggests catering to the slowest students comes at a cost to the top performers. The brightest students aren’t pushed to their limits because the other 29 students aren’t ready or able to advance as quickly.
If your student is in the top half of his or her class, chances are their advancement is being limited by the boys and girls sitting around them. Without waiting for a massive overhaul to the education system, what can be done about it?
Photo: Cindy Schultz