Not to get into the middle of a political discussion, but does anyone feel that the federal mandate (with funding tied to the mandate) to "close the achievement gap" has hurt the higher performing kids?
It has been on my mind a lot lately as our district has sent out many county-wide emails talking about how proud the district is of closing the achievement gap by 21%.
At the same time the emails are going out, the school REFUSES to test or let my child go past a (dictated by central office) reading or math level. They won't even test him. It is a county-wide rule that kids can't be tested/taught past a certain level.
It kills me when I see the emails go out about the "excitement over closing the achievement gap" because in my mind I'm thinking "yea, I know how you closed it!" I can't help but think that the achievement gap isn't closing because the instruction is better on the lower side, but rather the learning is halted on the upper end.
Am I wrong in this line of thinking? Please correct me if I am.
