No Child Left Behind Act

No Child Left Behind Act

President Bush quoted, “Clearly, our children are our future…Too many of our neediest children are being left behind” (www.ed.gov). The “No Child Left Behind” Act expands the federal government’s role in elementary and secondary education. The NCLB emphasizes accountability and abiding by policies set by the federal government. This law sets strict requirements and deadlines for states to expand the scope and frequency of student testing, restore their accountability system and guarantee that every classroom is staffed by a teacher qualified to teach in his or her subject area. Furthermore, the NCLB requires states to improve the quality of their schools from year to year. The NCLB pushes state governments and educational systems to help low-achieving and low-efficiency learners in high-poverty schools meet the same academic standards that apply to all other students.

There are many important aspects of the “No Child Left Behind” Act. I think the most important area of the act is the parents. Parents play just as an important role to the educational system as anyone else. NCLB expands parental options. NCLB supports learning in the early years, thereby preventing many learning difficulties that may arise later in the student's life. In fact, research shows that most reading problems faced by adolescents and adults are the result of problems that could have been prevented through good instruction in their early childhood years (Snow, Burns and Griffin 1998). NCLB provides more information for parents about their child’s progress. Reading and math assessments are done several times and provide parents with objective data on where their child stands academically. NCLB requires states and school districts to give parents easy-to-read, detailed report cards on schools and districts, telling them which ones are succeeding and why. These report cards are detailed with extensive data. NCLB ensures that parents have important information regarding the schools their children attend and whether they are performing well or not. In addition, under NCLB, such schools that are considered low-performing must use their federal funds to make needed improvements. In the event of a school’s continued poor performance, parents have the option to ensure that their children receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled. This...

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...dards are one of the main topics of educational and political rhetoric and debate in this decade. One of the major reasons for this controversy is that it is almost impossible to separate standards from assessment of student progress and teacher and school accountability. Therefore, parents are at somewhat of a crossroad.

With the right amount of funding and the proper objectives from government, the education reform could grow to be a huge success. As for right now, it is still under reform, and with certain changes comes certain conflicts. The goal at hand seems to be an effort to put all students, no matter what race, gender, income-status, etc. at the same academic standing as all other students. This is an extremely difficult task with many students being at different learning abilities. President Bush is not going to give up and maintain his fight for better education. Our country, noted as the greatest nation in the world, deserves to give our children the right to an excellent education. The children of today are the men and women of the future. Therefore, the “No Child Left Behind” Act is a great step forward for teachers, parents and students across the country.