School districts all over the country have undergone countless changes in just a few years. Are these changes for the better? Children in the current school system are faced with numerous tests every year. Why are they being constantly tested? The ceaseless use of standardized testing is a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Continuous talk about the No Child Left Behind Act can be heard in the hallways of schools nationwide, but why does it matter? The No Child Left Behind Act plays a major role in our students’ education. The students affected by this act is America’s future. Without school making a positive impact on these students, it will be less likely that they will be motivated to make a positive impact on America in the future. The No Child Left Behind Act may be considered a beneficial element in today’s educational system, but the act should be revised. Revisions should be made due to the inefficient measurement of student growth, the stress that is put onto students, and the limitations placed on teachers.
What exactly is the No Child Left Behind Act? The name may sound familiar, but the contents of the act may not commonly known or understand. The No Child Left Behind Act, also acknowledged as NCLB, was established by President George W. Bush. This act was set July 1, 2002 ("No Child Left Behind.”). As summarized by the New America Foundation, the No Child Left Behind Act sets requirements for states in order “to ensure all students are proficient in grade-level math and reading by 2014. Schools must make ‘adequate yearly progress’ toward this goal (“No Child Left Behind-Overview”).” This goal is met by issuing standardized test for students to take.
There are two types of tests that students complete throughou...
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Ryser, Gail R., and Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez."Using Growth Models to Measure School Performance: Implications for Gifted Learners. (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965)(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)." Academic OneFile. Gale, Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
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The implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act applied a market approach to school reform as a way of improving the school system. This new law promised an era of high standards, testing, and accountability in
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.
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.
In 2001 George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act and the act took effect in 2002. The United States, and President Bush, thought that the act would aid immigrant students and American students in education from the time they entered elementary throughout adulthood. The NCLB does just the opposite for most immigrated students and native students. Although the act was a good idea at the time in 2001, the lasting effects on students with their education now are appalling because of all the negative feedback that the act provides for most school districts because all the students’ different learning abilities show lower test scores in standardized testing. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed in 2001 for aiding the development of education from 2001-2014 by creating standardized testing in hopes of creating more intelligent children, but there are more children left behind now, supporting the opinion that the act fails.
In order to determine whether or not the No Child Left Behind Act is doing its job successfully and efficiently, one must first understand exactly what is involved in the act. This act is the most recent renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Similar to laws in the past, this particular act has been revised and added to numerous times to make sure it encompasses everything necessary for the education system and the students. The No Child Left B...
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) deals with student achievement standards by holding schools accountable for the achievement of their students (Implementation 11). The NCLBA uses standardized tests to chart the success of students. If students are not meeting standards, the school is required to offer tutoring, which is funded by the state with Title I, the education mandate passed in which granted all public schools access to federal grants, money (No Subject 7). The Act itself is not the problem; the problem is that the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standard which is a big part of the NCLBA is not being met. The AYP standard is not being met because schools are not changing their methods quickly enough. It was said in the NCLBA that schools nationwide were to have 100% proficiency of the AYP standard within 12 years (Implementation 9). Since the passing of the NCLBA in 2001, most public schools, nationwide have not improved at all.
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
At a time of wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in America. The law emphasizes accountability, teacher quality, parent choice, improved teaching methods, and flexibility. (Correa) Strict requirements and deadlines have been set for states to expand the scope and frequency of student testing, revamp their accountability system and guarantee that every classroom is staffed by a ?highly qualified? teacher in his or her own subject area. (I ed) The plan also mandates annual student testing in reading and math by 2005, and requires all school districts to allow students in consistently low-performing schools to transfer to higher performing schools, at the districts expense. (Hull) From year to year, states are required to improve the quality of their schools. No Child Left Behind has expanded the federal ...
Making the NCLB Act effective is quite a chore for the federal and state legislation. The positive influences for the act are quite controversial. Accountability standards are set and measured on a yearly basis by each individual state. The educator’s qualifications and standards are also state and federally mandated. Reading, math and writing are the key academic subjects that are measured. The goal is to close the gap among race, socioeconomic groups, and disabled students. The schools tend to focus on these areas, while they direct the education toward the test taking success rather than the child’s needs. Parents are given a whole academic achievement picture when receiving the test scores.
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.
The Elementary and Secondary School Act has been amended on seven different occasions, but the most current is No Child Left B (NCLB). This act is a direct result of the 1994 amendment to the ESEA Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA), which is a result of the Clinton Administration and Goals 2000. Goals 2000, an act signed into law on March 31, 1994, set in place eight goals concerning school readiness, school completion, student academic achievement, leadership in math and science, adult literacy, safe and drug-free schools, encouraging teacher professional development, and parental participation (Paris, 1994). After Clinton signed Goals 2000, the IASA was implemented and signed on October 20, 1994, the new amendment to the ESEA that allotted $11 billion for most federally funded K-12 programs and enacts what is considered to be the most important changes made since the original act was passed in 1965 (Education Week, 1994). NCLB is the 2001 U.S. Act in accordance with which educational standards in primary and secondary education should be improved for students with disabilities to achieve successful individua...
The achievement gap is greatly evident and impacts the low-income, minority students the most. Although the federal government attempted to resolve this problem with No Child Left Behind, the social problem is still evident. As there is still much pressure on standardized tests and annual reports, reformation is needed. No Child Left Behind has proven to be inadequate and rather highlights the urgency for education reform. Although the act is called “No Child Left Behind,” an appropriate title would have been “Education Left Behind.” More than focusing on test scores, education should prepare students in how to contribute to
For years, the No Child Left Behind program and parents have gone head to head. Some parents believe that their children are not ready to advance, while the NCLB believes the students are ready to progress. The law does not care if the students does not understand the curriculum, just as long the child is meeting deadlines and passing the states standardized tests. This type of learning system only causes stress for teachers, students, and can be very unreliable.
The No Child Left Behind Act was set into place with the goal to improve student performance in school, and close the achievement gap between students; as Stecher, Vernez, and Steinburg state, “When congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), it established an ambitious goal for the nation’s states, districts, and schools: All children will be proficient in reading and mathematics by the 2013-2014 school year” (1). While the No Child Left Behind Act was implemented with good intentions, the act itself is one of the main reasons the United States is falling behind in educational rankings. One of the most common complaints of parents surrounding the No Child Left Behind Act is the weakest link factor: the weakest student sets the pace in the classroom. The weakest student...
As Rodney Paige, former Secretary of Education, said, “We have an educational emergency in the United States of America” (Hursh, 2007). The American ideal of egalitarianism essentially states that individuals should have an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams, and an important part of being able to achieve this is attaining a quality education. Students of differing racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and ability levels should all have the same opportunities in receiving a high-quality education. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is seeking to change this. The NCLB is the current authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (Houston, 2007), which was passed during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. Every five years the ESEA is renewed. It is currently due for renewal in 2014.