No Child Left Behind- Sound Program or an Atrocious Notion?

Anatole France said, “An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.” Through the No Child Left Behind program students are being tested in a manner that does not accurately measure learning. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB or The Act) Act was proposed in 2001, an addition to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to assist students who have a disadvantage or are a minority. Through this Act students were required to take standardized tests. One main reason of implementing the standardized testing as a part of NCLB was to raise schools AYP, adequate yearly progress; this measures a schools progress in reaching certain standards set by the Federal Government. The Federal Government should eradicate the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 because it is creating substantial problems, limiting learning, and has proven to be ineffective.

First of all, the NCLB Act is creating substantial problems within specific schools and school districts, as well as throughout families of the schools, they are protesting the Act in many ways. “The increasing role of standardized testing in U.S. classrooms is triggering pockets of rebellion across the country from school officials, teachers and parents who say the system is stifling teaching and learning.” (Banchero 1) This is creating substantial problems because parents/guardians and even the staff are becoming outraged by the idea of standardized testing. They do not think it is acceptable to require teaching have stricter guidelines. They are modifying curriculum in an effort to make it more challenging. The reality is that they are making the assessment criteria narrower. Throug...

... middle of paper ...

...1 May 2014.

Banchero, Stephanie. "School-Test Backlash Grows." Wall Street Journal 2012 may 16: A.3. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .

Bell, Andrea L., and Katie A. Meinelt. "A Past, Present, and Future Look at No Child Left Behind." Human Rights. 38.4 (2011): 11-14. MAS Complete. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Downey, Maureen. "A Decade of No Child Left Behind: A Hit or a Miss?" Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2012 jan 09: A.10. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .

Layton, Lyndsey. "As High-Stakes Tests Spread, Some Students Drop the Pencil." Washington Post 2013 apr 15: A.12. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. .

"Standardized Test Definition." The Glossary of Education Reform. Great Schools Partnership, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Starr, Joshua P. "Time Out on Standardized Testing." Washington Post 2013 feb 08: A.19. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. .