Parents Lecture

For another Monday night lecture, 3 guest parents came in for our panel. I went into lecture with the notion that all of their answers were going to be the same as all of the other guest panels. To my surprise they weren't.
There have been a couple of reoccuring questions. 1) What do you think makes a good teacher. 2) How do you feel about NCLB (no child left behind)?
As any parent, they overall felt that a good teacher is someone who is willing to help strategize on how to help a student succeed or learn something. As a parent, you just want whats best for your child. After discussing NCLB with fellow class members, many of us have had a rather negative view on the Act. I was a little shocked to hear other teachers, board members and other administrators supporting NCLB. Finally, the group of parents were the ones who opposed the Act. They went on to explain how they could see "all of the data" being beneficial to the teachers and schools, but what did it show about their own children?? Keep in mind, two of these parents happen to be teachers (or were). How is NCLB and the data really beneficial to their children? I had been wondering whether the other panels were just defending NCLB to try justifying it. But in all honesty I could see how several years of data could prove to be worthwhile for them, but then again; it does nothing for the students during the time those tests are taken.