The No Child Left Behind Act. At first glance, this act sounds like all it can do for the educational system is improve it. If no student is left behind then everyone can have equal opportunities right? But if teachers are constantly testing in order to measure progress, then students can be held back. No Child Left Behind Act(NCLB) requires testing in schools in order to help regulate education and to measure how qualified teachers are. Some argue that the NCLB act adds many positive aspects to the educational system. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. The act enforces testing thus limiting the teacher's freedom causing him or her to teach to the test. This form of teaching, in turn, inhibits the student’s creativity.
In what follows I first provide a history and explanation of the NCLB act. As well as the thinking behind this piece of legislation. Then, I show how the NCLB’s rules and standardized testing are destructive to teaching. Finally, I argue how the act is leading to the overall downfall of our educational system.
The No Child Left Behind act was signed and put into place by President George W. Bush in 2002. The act was passed in order to replace the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA), put into place by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, as part of his Great Society Program. The ESEA helped to cover the cost of educating disadvantaged students, while expanding the federal role in education. (Education Week 2015) The idea of the NCLB act, much like ESEA, was to help reform the educational system in both elementary and secondary school systems. The NCLB act was very ambitious, and brings up issues on improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged, training high-quality teachers, language instruction for limited English proficient students, 21st-century schools, and enforcing technology. (U.S. Department of Education, 2010) One of the biggest factors of this bill was the idea of closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Bush felt that this could be done by using standardized tests to measure how students were doing, and to see how well the teachers are doing. These tests were then used to identify which school systems were not performing
The No Child Left Behind Act was based on the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965. The act was established based on the promise of Thomas Jefferson to create a free public education system in Virginia (Hammond, Kohn, Meier, Sizer & Wood, 2004). The act is now reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The purpose of the No Child Left Behind Act was to make sure that children were given a fair, quality education. The act set out to close the achievement gaps in education, which were caused by children living in poverty, living with disabilities, children who were of different ethnic backgrounds and English learners. The proposed methods of the act targeted all children and provided an equal opportunity to meet
“The NCLB law—which grew out of concern that the American education system was no longer internationally competitive—significantly increased the federal role in holding schools responsible for the academic progress of all students. And it put a special focus on ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as English-language learners, students in special education, and poor and minority children, whose achievement, on average, trails their peers.” (Klein). In 1965, ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) was introduced by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society Program to create a clear understanding of the Federal Government in K-12 school policy, which provided more that $1 billion
Explanation of choosing the “No Child Left Behind” Act The “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) Act is an important topic in education to me,
When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law in 2002, the legislation had one goal-- to improve educational equity for all students in the United States by implementing standards for student achievement and school district and teacher performance. Before the No Child Left Behind Act, the program of study for most schools was developed and implemented by individual states and local communities’ school boards. Proponents of the NCLB believed that lax oversight and lack of measurable standards by state and local communities was leading to the failure of the education system and required federal government intervention to correct. At the time, the Act seemed to be what the American educational system
Many educators find the purpose of the NCLB Act to be very confusing and disingenuous. According to Monty Neill, who works for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an organization which evaluates tests and exams for their impartiality, “NCLB is a fundamentally punitive law that uses flawed standardized tests to label schools as failures and punish them with counterproductive sanctions” (Neill, 1). Teachers will be of no use to educate their students according to the curriculum, if the only focus that both the teachers and students have is only to pass the imperative standardized test, just so their school district can acquire more
Since the No Child Left Behind Act, also known as NCLB, has come into effect, it has caused some concerns with teachers and parents alike on how well it is working for the students. There have been issues that have arisen that needed to be addressed and instead been overlooked when a child does not meet with the school’s standardized testing and is pushed onto the next grade level.
Opponents of NCLB, which includes all major teachers' unions, allege that the act hasn't been effective in improving education in public education, especially high schools, as evidenced by mixed results in standardized tests. Opponents also claim that standardized testing, which is the heart of NCLB accountability, is deeply flawed and biased for many reasons. That stricter teacher qualifications have exacerbated the nationwide teacher shortage, not provided a stronger teaching force. The NCLB law has set a 2014 deadline for states to make public school students proficient in math and reading, but each state decides how to meet that goal. are from achieving proficiency.
The No Child Left Behind Act, which passed Congress with overpowering bipartisan backing in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is the name for the latest redesign to the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. The NCLB law which was implemented out of worry that the American educational system was no more globally focused, significantly expanded the government's role in holding schools accountable for the educational achievement of all children. Furthermore, it put an exceptional spotlight on guaranteeing that states and schools help specific groups of children to be academically successful, for instance, English-language learners, Students with Disabilities (SWD), and socioeconomically challenged students, whose academic
In 2002, the No Child Left Behind act, was made into a law by President Bush. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills, and to turn these assessments over to the government to receive funding for their school. This law implemented standardized test that all students needed to take. Many teachers felt that their teaching ability was being based off these test scores. Teachers should not be evaluated on their students performance on exams.
Signed into law by George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was supposed to drastically mend education throughout America (Moe). It forced states to test students in reading and math in the third through eighth grades and further release the results to the state to assure the students were meeting the standards. The data gathered unveiled an astonishing achievement gap and to a certain extent highlighted schools and systems that needed vast improvements, but it also created a culture of teaching to the test, strict curriculums and put a massive amount of pressure on students and teachers to meet these high standards. Since 2002, the federal No Child Left Behind Act has
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, is a comprehensive overhaul of the federal governments requirements of state and local education systems (www.nclb.gov). It reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and replaces the 1994 Improving Americas Schools Act.
“The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (No Child Left Behind) is a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of America's schools.” President George W Bush had good intentions of implementing various policies to improve our nation's education system but fell short. The No Child Left Behind Act caused havoc in schools nationwide. Fortunately, I believed the No Child Left Behind Act is supportive and effective for children and families to an extent. The No Child Left Behind Act placed a serious damper on schools because of the English language learners. Many educators failed to see the positive impact standardized test had with English language learners. “One positive impact the NCLB has had on
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in 1965 and previously reauthorized in 1994, encompasses Title I, the federal government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students.
The No Child Left Behind Act also has a very narrow focus on curriculum. The act focuses on just math and reading scores. This could have an undemocratic effect on a large generation of students in poorly performing schools. Schools would have take away much of the broad education in order to elevate scores on just two subject areas. Students in wealthy schools with good test scores will continue to learn a full range of subjects including art, social studies and science, while the students who scored poorly on the tests, will be receiving education in only two subject areas. It is not right to put two subjects as the top priority. This means that not all students will get a complete education. This concern with literacy and math skills divides
The No Child Left Behind Act should tremendously be re-examined and amended because the focus on the standardized tests decrease the quality of other subjects not on the tests, the tests are not an efficient tool to make certain that a student is receiving an excellent education and the tests create unnecessary stress for the students, teachers and administrators. The purpose of No Child Left Behind is to provide every student with the opportunity to receive a top-grade education. This is a great proposal to strive towards but, legislation plans on achieving this proposal by making schools responsible for their students’ proficiency and to measure their proficiency with the use of standardized tests. After the students take the