The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is an education policy originally proposed by President George Bush in 2001. Since then President Barrack Obama has added modifications in order to better educate the students of our Nation. The purpose of the NCLB is to enable all children to the same rights for education. Each child, regardless of race, gender or location should be able to obtain equal education. The policy requires highly educated teachers and annual state testing that is submitted to the government.
The Federal definition of a “highly qualified teacher” requires the teacher to have certification for the State, having passed licensing exams. An elementary school teacher who is new to the field is required to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, has passed State testing, subject knowledge and skills in reading, writing mathematics and other areas of basic elementary school curriculum. A middle or secondary school teacher who is new to the field has the same requirements; however they must also demonstrate high levels of competency in each of the academic subjects they intend to teach. Academic standards have been established for each state. The idea is to prepare students for college and “the real world”. This also creates an accountability system that recognizes student growth and school progress (ESEA Reauthorization, 2010).
With these established goals each state is to ensure that all teachers are qualified as stipulated. This is to give all students a fair and equal opportunity to education. However, each of these things work towards the students who may be lacking, or do not currently have access to a standard education. This does not apply to all students.
As a parent of four school age childre...
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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001’s main purpose was to enhance the education system and hold schools accountable in its attempt to bring equality in the fight against poverty for poor and minority groups. Once this Act was signed into law the American public expected an overhaul of the education system with only good outcomes. The public assumed our children would be receiving the best education available and the economic issues that plagued schools would no longer be a problem. In the beginning of its implementation No Child Left Behind was expected to bring America up to standards with other nations, this was something that America has struggled to do for many years. Our children were now being put first according to Act and the public and many political figures were ecstatic over the possibilities.
Neill, Monty. "The No Child Left Behind Act Is Not Improving Education." Education: Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 162-68. Print.
The policy “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)” is a policy where Federal legislation has mandated that children be tested, and where there is compliance with standards. Simply means, that all children must meet standards. The standards are defined by the states, and all children will be subject to testing, starting from as early as third grade. The students will be tested annually, in order to ensure that they are getting the type of education that they are entitled to, as determined by their performance on standardized tests.
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is currently the educational policy in the United States. Prior to NCLB the educational policies in effect were “A Nation at Risk, in 1987 America 2000, and a few years later with Goals 2000” (Eisner, 2001, p.21). No Child Left Behind is a test based accountability system used in schools to measure their performance holding the districts, administrators and teachers liable and accountable for the outcomes. Supovitz (2009) States that No Child Left Behind was a major reform initiative intended to bring about widespread improvements in student performance and reduce inequities between ethnic groups and other traditionally under-served populations like economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial
Just three days after taking office in January of 2001 as the forty third president of the United States, George W. Bush announced his plan of No Child Left Behind. Signed January 8, 2002, it was the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. (Rebora) No Child Left Behind cleared Congress in a landslide with overwhelming majorities. (Seligman) It was said to be the most ambitious school reform effort in at least a generation. (Symonds) No Child Left Behind, is a landmark in education reform, designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of America's schools. Bush describes his plan as 'the cornerstone of my administration' (Rebora).
Rudalevige, A. (2003). The politics of No Child Left Behind. EducationNext, 3(4), 63-69. Retrieved from EducationNext: http://educationnext.org/the-politics-of-no-child-left-behind/
166-173). Linda Darling-Hammond (2000) discusses how teacher education has changed and how it has affected our education system (p. 166). The author also notes how even the most intelligent people found it hard to prosper in the field without the right skills and preparation (Darling-Hammond, 2000, p. 166-173). In the article, she presents how post baccalaureate programs are carefully structured, versus alternative routes which can be no more than backup employment options. Darling-Hammond (2000) also addresses how it becomes difficult for aspiring teachers to learn both subject matter and pedagogy (p.
Rushton talks about the funding for the No Child Left Behind is being held back if the students don’t do well on the standardized tests. So if the students don’t do well on the testing the teachers are being affected in the way of how much they are getting paid, also affects the school districts funding. This is encouraging the teachers not to teach the way they should, but they are teaching in the way of let’s just make the students do well on the standardized tests. In this article Rushton talks about how the brain of the student learns. Rushton talks about how the pre-frontal lobe is responsible for the thinking skills, creativity, and also making judgments. For the students that are taking the standardized test they may not have this area all the way developed, and that could be one of the major reasons that the teachers are not make the criteria of the test scores. If that is happening should the teachers really be counted responsible for what the student is not learning? Teachers need to create the environment where the students can grow at their own independent rate. “Effective teachers support brain development by encouraging children to make discoveries in well-planned environments that support student autonomy” (Rushton 89). The NCLB provides the funding for the school districts that make the grades on the standardized test but the schools that don’t make the grade has a disadvantage because then the NCLB doesn’t give the funding to the schools. “Research has shown that the teachers employed at low-preforming schools often are less qualified teachers while the students may have less extensive academic preparation” (Rushton 91). The connection in this resource is that it may not be the teacher’s fault...
“Making the Grade,” which was published in the Salt Lake Tribune in September of this year, is an article arguing the negative sides of the No Child Left Behind Act. Through this article, a majority of the discussion regarded the budgeting involved with NCLB. This article calls No Child Left Behind a “one-size-fits-all formula for improving education in America” (Making the Grade). According to President Bush, the NCLB Act is “’the cornerstone’ of his administration” (Salt Lake Tribune). Like with any legislation, however, come both positive and negative sides.
Peterson, P. E., & West, M. R. (2003). No Child Left Behind?: The politics and practice of school accountability. New York, NY: Brookings Institution Press.
Lee, Oliver. "Does No Child Left Behind Deserve a Passing Grade?" TakePart. N.p., 6 June 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
Columnist, Guest. "Test Scores and Teacher Competency." The Oregonian. Oregonlive.com, 4 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.
The state’s new evaluation system was in response to administrators who produced, “superficial and capricious teacher evaluation systems that often don't even directly address the quality of instruction, much less measure students' learning” (Toch, 2008). Too often, the “good-ol-boy” attitude would insure mediocre educators would remain employed. Realizing this was often more the rule then the exception, the governor created educational mandates to focus, “on supporting and training effective teachers to drive student achievement” (Marzano Center, 2013). Initially, they expected the school districts and the teachers would have issues and experience growing pains, but in the end the goal was, “to improve teacher performance, year by year, with a corresponding rise in student achievement” (Marzano Center, 2013).
Week, E. and B. Obama (2009). The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide, Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.