ISTEPs and more two-dimensional Bush-think

Today my step daughters began their week of ISTEP. On the one hand, I applaud the idea of accountability for progress and the importance of setting good standards for our educational system. No group should just be given public money without any accountability for how they use it.

But just as with the war on Iraq, Bush's policies reflect good intentions but a lack of the kind of depth of understanding we expect in a president. It's like the difference between figuring out physics in a vacuum and then doing the same experiment in the real world with friction and other complicating factors. In Iraq, Bush's ideal scenario took little account of the way real Arabs think--he expected them to think like middle class American Westerners.

His "No Child Left Behind" promotion shows similar two dimensional thinking. It's okay for someone like me not to know that our teachers spend half their time dealing with discipline problems in the classroom. It is okay for someone like me not to know that you will never reach these kids until you have addressed the "baggage" they come to school with. It is okay for someone like me not to know how much time our teachers spend just trying to maintain order. But I expect more of a president.

Every teacher wants their students to learn--the problems are in reality much deeper. Like Iraq, you can't solve these kinds of problems by holding a gun to someone's head. You can beat a child or a Muslim until they do want you want them to do, but you will face several lifetimes of anger and even worse behavior in the long run for it. You can tell our teachers you will fire them if their students don't pass, but in the end you're really punishing the good guys.

It's okay for someone like me not to know that standardized tests are often poor indicators of real progress. It's okay for someone like me not to know that such tests often assess things with a bias toward white Americans. It's okay for someone like me not to think about unintended consequences like teachers now taking large portions of class time filling out assessment paperwork--taking away more teaching time. It's okay for someone like me not to realize teachers would now spend a great deal of time "teaching to the test" out of fear, creating a climate not of understanding but of jumping through hoops. It's okay for someone like me not to anticipate such things and be more profound in the way I set up accountability.

But I expect a president to be smarter than me.

I see a dangerous trend in Bush here that carries over to many areas. He has good intentions and good goals. But he does not have a deep enough understanding of reality to get to the goals. His path of choice is a big stick that in the end creates more problems than it solves. You might expect such thinking from someone like me. But I expect more of a president.