During the 2008 presidential campaign, and after Barack Obama was elected, we brought you coverage of the new President’s plans for education.
Standardized Testing : In 2008, Obama said he wanted to “provide funds for states to implement a broader range of assessments that can evaluate higher-order skills, including students’ abilities to use technology, conduct research, engage in scientific investigation, solve problems, and present and defend their ideas.” The biggest movement on the assessment front is something called the Race to the Top Assessment Program.
“As a parent, I would be concerned because Americans move around a lot (more than in any other industrialized country) and if they move, suddenly their kids are going to be taught very different things,” he says.
School Choice : In 2008, President Obama voted no on vouchers that would use public money to send kids to private schools because he thought they depleted resources for those kids most in need. The kicker is that because the closure of schools—whether public or charter—is the responsibility of states, not the federal government, there’s not much President Obama can do to ensure bad charter schools are no longer in operation.
No Child Left Behind : While Obama did not have kind words to say about this policy heading into his presidency, he never made any promises to kill the bill and start from scratch. He did say he thought some serious reforms were needed, especially in relation to teacher quality and retention, and offered ideas for professional development programs as a way to combat the issue.
College Funding and Affordability : Obama hedged his bets on the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a refundable credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of a college education is free for most Americans. Obama made good on these promises, and the results seem to be positive, especially for low-income students trying to get a college education.
Universal Preschool v One of Obama’s education goals was to create a voluntary, universal preschool program to help close the achievement gap before it starts.
Jennings thinks any evaluation of Obama’s performance on education issues should keep this in mind. “Obama has done much more than could have been foreseen when elected,” he says.
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