Ged Programs
Q: No Child Left Behind is positive in the sense that it
gives the perception of a minimum standard that
school systems have to meet. Accountability. Fed
funding might not be as much as desired but if the
DOE determines the cost of compliance is too high
compared to all federal funding the school system
receives, it can always opt out, right?
A:But this is compliance to a federal requirement. The
feds should supply the monies to meet their
requirement, or at least, they should be flexible if it
looks like compliance costs too much for the state.
Time will tell. There's now a new head of this Fed
dept.
But beyond that, the standards are not meant to be
minimums. They are just that: a standard-- what a
student is expected to have learned at a certain grade
level. It causes special problems because of our
diverse student population in Hawaii. Already it seems
there is a need for reform.
IIRC remember seeing a TV report on an alternative
school program for a GED degree. The schools in Texas
have an easy time getting hi school students into this
program. And it also helps that they then don't have to
account for these failing students. The GED program
originally being an adult ed program doesn't keep close
track of its students. So when students drop out or
fail to register for the GED, nothing is reported to
the Feds on their failures in the GED program. I guess
the loophole may be that the fed funding (if any) for
the GED program is not from No-Child funding. IIRC, the
percentage of students passing the test may increase by
five points, but the total number of students
graduating or being promoted in grade decreases. In the
TV show, administrators expressed surprise that the
students in the GED program were not being supervised.
It's just not a convincing lie.
Perhaps the dropout rate should be also factored into
the No-Child act. For example, if this year they expect
5% improvement or 5 students out of 100, then the drop
out rate can be no higher than 1% or 1 student out of
100. I would prefer that they move the 5 failing
students into an alternative program within the school
so they can still be counted, rather than move the five
into a GED program and out of the system. At least the
only legitimate dropout rate accepted should be to a
program as rigorous as the school program.
One of the arguments mentioned on TV, IIRC was the
idea,