Source Note: “Interview with Megan Koler”

March 6, 2009 in Research Project

Title: Interview with Megan Koler

Summary: NCLB student researcher feels the act is in need of serious reform.

Topic: Should the Obama Administration reform the No Child Left Behind Act?

Category: Citizen; 

Publication Information: N/A

Author: Thomas Moriarty, interviewer, and Megan Koler, subject.

Location: T’s Gateway Blog

Accessed: February 17, 2009

Support:

“Tracking Creates a Poverty of Learning,” Education Leadership, May 2008: The article compares the system of tracking (placing low-performing students with low-performing students) created by NCLB with historical examples, to illustrate the harms of this system. Megan felt this results in an inability to track growth.

“Comparisons between Talent Search Students Qualifying via Scores on Standardized Tests and via Parent Nomination,”Roeper Review, May 2006: The article focuses on how talented and gifted students are being overlooked by the public education system, as their individual strengths in the areas of abstract thinking and humanities are not reflected on standardized tests. Megan argued these intelligent students are actually being factored as hindrances, rather than as educational net positives.

“Evaluating No Child Left Behind,” The Nation, 2007: This piece looks at the United States’ loss of competitive status with the rest of the first-world, due to our narrow focus in testing areas, and makes the case for essays, research projects, and other evaluations of critical-thinking skills. Megan cited this as evidence of how our rush to close the achievement gap in our own society is actually widening the achievement gap in the global community.

Audience and Agenda: Megan is a fellow student in the Gateway II class, and is also researching No Child Left Behind. She stated her interest in the law stemmed from a lack of knowledge of education policy issues and a desire to understand what NCLB actually meant for American public schools.

Usefulness: My interview with Megan serves two purposes in the context of my research project. One, it acts as independent support for my personal arguments in favor of NCLB reform. Two, her utilization of different sources and evaluation of different issues makes her analysis a distinct artifact within my sources, providing additional intellectual fuel for those who examine research.

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