By Susan Ohanian

On April 17, 2006, at a press conference in the Cedar Creek room at the Statehouse in Montpelier, members of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education (VSSE) released a survey of Vermont teachers’ attitudes toward the No Child Left Behind Act. VSSE Executive Director Sid Glassner introduced the survey. Senior Fellow Dana Rapp, Associate Professor of Educational Studies at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, released the results of the survey. William Mathis, Superintendent of Schools for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, tied Vermont results with national trends. A brief question-and-answer period followed.

Survey findings include:

• 80% of teachers don’t believe students’ needs are reflected in NCLB;

• 88% believe there is less local control of curriculum: 45% “significantly less”;

• 83% report that NCLB has had a negative effect on education: 44% “very negative”:

• 93% report students’ love of learning is less, 38% much less;

• 90% believe Vermont’s Commissioner of Education is “inaccurate” in believing that NCLB won’t harm schools: 48% “completely inaccurate”;

• 96% report that “enriching activities” are less possible: 50% “much less possible;

• 89% report Vermont classrooms are worse places because of numerical accountability and testing: 40% “much worse”;

• 97% believe NCLB creates more stress for students: 51% say “much more”;

• 73% believe Vermont education is headed in the wrong direction; and

• 88% report that NCLB encourages them to develop “less intellectually engaging activities”;

• 97% believe NCLB encourages them to use more worksheets;

• 92% report that NCLB encourages them to have less class discussions;

• 99% believe that NCLB encourages them to teach to the test.

Nationally, there is extensive evidence that: (1) test scores do not equal educational quality; (2) federal and state NCLB mandates are forcing schools and communities to issue and teach to high-stakes tests; and (3) opinions of researchers, educators, and citizens are not sought by many states if they contradict the ideology of NCLB. Therefore, this survey of 216 Vermont teachers was sponsored by VSSE to determine how teachers view the effects of NCLB on state policy, children, classroom climate, and quality of education.

These findings are significant because they contradict the assertion of Governor Douglas’ administration that NCLB won’t harm Vermont schools. Corporatized politicos nationwide sing the same tune, with none acknowledging the damage done by NCLB.

More importantly, the survey shows that teachers believe NCLB is making schools worse places for children to learn. As Superintendent Mathis pointed out, a “bewildering bunch of box-scores is being used to determine whether schools make ’adequate yearly progress’ by improving their state standardized test scores.” Mathis went on to say that these “standards” are far from benign: “If schools don’t make AYP, school and community reputations, property values, teachers’ pride, children’s motivation, and parents’ school support are all affected.”

Rapp added, “Overall, the results from this survey illuminate the disparity between what supporters and enforcers of NCLB are saying is happening in schools and what teachers are reporting. If anything, the Governor and the Commissioner of Education must do more than convince Vermont citizens that NCLB is a positive force, they have a responsibility to engage us in a vibrant and transparent conversation about NCLB’s legitimacy and whether it benefits Vermonters.”

When asked by the Associated Press to respond to the VSSE teacher survey, a spokeswoman for the Vermont state department of education said, “We’re required to comply.”

In an interview with the Berkshire (MA) Eagle, Rapp, who teaches in Massachusetts but lives in Vermont, offered a simple proposal for legislators who support the rigorous standardized testing that comes with federal mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act. “They should make an example of themselves. They should take the eighth-grade MCAS test, make the results public and explain how the results reflect what they have accomplished in life.”

Rapp said he believes there is some place for quantifiable measurements, but not the high-stakes approach NCLB forces.

“There’s probably a place for testing,” he said. “But there is not a place for the kind of radical testing that takes over, directs and abuses all other aspects of the school experience.”

Radical testing. There’s a term all educators can make stick. And parents know in an instant what it means.

Dana Rapp is a resident of Readsboro, Vermont. He has published numerous articles on high-stakes testing and NCLB in national and international academic journals. He is coauthor of Ethics and the Foundations of Education (Allyn and Bacon, 2003). He can be reached at 413-662-5197 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it