The No Child Left Behind Act

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The No Child Left Behind Act

Education has changed a lot in the past few years. Most significant of all changes has been the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act set up by President Bush in 2001. The NCLB Act was established to help close the education gap in public schools. Students from every background have been and are currently affected by NCLB, as well as are teachers. The standards have been set, and the race has begun to see which states and school districts will show the highest AYP, and which states and school districts will come at the humiliating last rung of the latter. Would it be a surprise to note that those schools which appear to be struggling the most thus far, have been the schools that have a high percentage of immigrants and students who do not know the English language? Probably not for us, but some how this tiny detail seemed to be overlooked by those who created the NCLB Act back in 2001. Schools are currently serving 5.5 million students who “do not speak English as a first language (Remarks 1). Recently however, the issue of immigration and LEP (Limited English Proficient) students has come to light, and the government has done something about it.

On Feb. 19, 2004, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, announced his new policies that would help alleviate the pressure put on the schools that have a large percentage of immigrant and LEP students, and would help pull at risk schools out of the red in the AYP reports. Dr. Paige described two ways that the government has decided to alleviate this pressure. One way that this will be done is by allowing immigrant students the choice to take reading/language arts content assessment, the English language proficiency assessment, and t...

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...students. They will be able to use the technology that is available to them for supplementation and help as they learn the English language, and hopefully will have more enrichment and a better knowledge of the language then they would if the technology that is now available to assist them, were not there. Students, teachers, and states will feel less pressure in produce test results, and will have more freedom for the use of the available technologies. Students need to feel that they are learning and are at the same level as everyone else, and those who do not know or understand the English language are at a disadvantage even before they get into the schools. With the use of technology and the encouragement of the teachers hopefully these LEP students will develop their skills quickly and efficiently, and be able to continue in their learning for years to come.

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