Mandarin Chinese for young children does not show on No Child left Behind reports

Are we leaving any students behind?
Educators say federal mandates needs revisions

By Jessica Jordan
jjordan@gainesvilletimes.com

POSTED Sept. 7, 2008 12:30 a.m.

Excerpt reads:

Teachers' creativity and gifted students left behind?
May (principal of Chestnut Mountain Elementary) also said the federal mandate has changed the way schools operate in recent years. She said while teachers are taking a more professional instructional approach under the law, it's also stifling their creative freedom in the classroom in favor of high-stakes testing.

"There used to be more of a focus on the art of teaching, now it's more of a focus on the science of teaching," she said.

While Hall County educators said the school system focuses on the whole student, including character development and academic rigor, as well as on a student passing the CRCT or the Georgia High School Graduation Test, Schofield said there's still a group of students nationwide who aren't getting the attention they deserve in the classroom: "the run of the mill" and gifted students.

"I think it's going to be a huge mistake in all kinds of issues, the most fundamental being the very competitiveness of the United States as a nation," Schofield said. "The children that sit in our classrooms could cure cancer ... and are the very children that aren't getting very much attention."

Schofield said he's concerned No Child Left Behind's emphasis on test scores has encouraged school systems nationwide to forsake class time in foreign language, communication skills and technology, all skills he considers vital for students to compete in the 21st century workplace.

"We can offer Mandarin Chinese ... for little children. It won't show up on a No Child Left Behind report ... and quite honestly, that's the reason why a lot of districts have abandoned and not gone down those roads," Schofield said.