The No Child Left Behind Act is hurting more than helping. Sadly, NCLB doesn't care about strong relationships in the classroom; NCLB cannot measure smiles, teamwork, or the overcoming of adversity. It doesn't allow for creative and authentic assessments and engaging activities in the classroom. The only thing that seems to matter, from the state superintendent down to the district office and the school administration, are Standardized Testing and Reporting data. As a result of the federal government's industrial approach to education, certain schools must improve test scores in every major core class-math, history, science, English-and at increasingly high rates. Additionally, every student subgroup-including white, Hispanic/Latino, African-American, Asian, socially/economically disadvantaged, English language learners, special education students-must meet these yearly growth targets regardless of any obstacles. The tests must be taken by 95 percent or more of the students in each subgroup. If just one subgroup fails to meet the performance or test attendance standards of NCLB, the school is put into "program improvement." Moreover, these growth targets must be met or exceeded for consecutive years. .
NCLB is not only impacting certain minority populations; unattainable goals of NCLB are cutting across distinctions in class and race as more and more schools are being labeled as "failing schools." Additionally, in just five years all students in all schools in every state in the nation must pass their standardized tests at a "proficient level." That's right; 100 percent of all students must be proficient by 2014. No Child Left Behind has not been adjusted in any way to fit the reality of education. .
At the local level, we can do something even more important. Educators, administrators and parents can breathe life back into education. We can and must re-emphasize the joy of learning, the rewards of teamwork, the unique qualities of performance, animation, humor, role-playing, individual and group-based projects, and the overall life skills, relationships and memories that students and teachers are exposed to every day in a truly high-quality classroom within a school that cares. After all, students are still kids. They must have fun and they must want to learn in order to compete, collaborate and achieve beyond secondary and post-secondary education. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!
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Before I did some actual in-depth research about NCLB and the implementation process I felt the same way; that NCLB actually disenfranchized African American youth. The truth is, is that no system or law is perfect but the NCLB act has designated money specifically for educational enrichment. I am a part of an organization geared toward students passing standardized exams and understanding class work. The law was made out of good intentions, to expose teachers and schools not interested in helping educate our future, but with that being said there will always be someone disenfranchised. Remember, this is one of the most thorough educational laws that has been put into place. Of course there is always going to be negative backlash against things because students aren't use to being challeneged, and so now that school has become more complicated and test focused many of them do not know how to handle it.
As I have stated, NCLB was a great initial attempt which was poorly funded. While it goes without saying that NCLB cannot account for smiles, teamwork or the presence of adversity, it would be silly to ask for it to do so. Additionally, it is a fallacy to think that the only thing educators are concerned with is "tests." They are concerned with disciplining children, educating them, as well as making a livign for themselves. Moreover, the use of benchmarks to measure teaching is beneficial because it makes education standard across the board for all students. ALso, the issue should be on high standards, thus the needed 95%. We are constantly in need of progress and education is no exception. If NCLB had not been implemented, a great disadvantage to our students would have been done.
I believe that education is connected to our national security. We lag behind other countries in Math and Science. How can we claim to be one safest, strongest and advanced countries if our education system wreaks?!?!
Ultimately, the success of a student or failure depends on the parent and then after some time, the student. The Asians and Europeans and Africans want an education and it shows. Americans should thank President Bush for his goodwill initiative and look for ways to improve it, instead of just brushing it aside as a failure.
I agree with Farrah. This act does not help build the quality of American schools, it only applies more pressure and no means of accomplishing these uniform standards. The NCLB Act is an example of too much federal government regulation, centralization, and standardization. Life is not a standardized test. Let's stop requiring children to take so many of these exams in order to demonstrate their abilities.
I'm disgusted by No Child Left Behind. It looks like a good idea on the surface, but when you really look at it, it produces so many adverse effects. In high school I recall strict curriculums. If one student was to not understand something, in a lot of cases, the teacher kept plowing through the course in order to cram information just to pass a mandated standardized test. These “Tests aren’t just tests anymore. In some states they are used to determine which students get their diploma, and which teachers get bonuses”. Did No Child Left Behind regard minority students and non-English speaking students? Moreover schools are being penalized for low test scores – schools who have a higher achievement rate receive monetary stipends. So the schools who didn’t achieve proficiency are essentially stuck – they don’t have the money to perhaps hire new teachers or implement new programs to raise success levels.
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