The No Child Left Behind Act

On December 10, 2015, President Barack Obama signed a revised version of the No Child Left Behind Act called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA is a US law designed to govern the nations K-12 education policy. This policy ensures success and provides equal opportunity for students and schools. ESSA guarantees that our nation will set high standards furnishing students with the opportunity to graduate high school and become college or career ready, maintain accountability and provide adequate resources to improve low performing schools and students, confirm annual state assessments measuring students’ progress assessable to educators, students, families and communities and support state and local decision makers develop a plan based on evidence to improve schools. In addition, ESSA sets a strong foundation in education for all students with access to high quality preschools and offers equity and safety for America’s disadvantage and high needs students.

Prior to signing the Every Student Succeeds Act, former President George W. Bush established the No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act was a law that “substantially increases the testing requirements for states and sets demanding accountability standards for schools, districts and states, including the setting of measurable adequate yearly progress objectives for all students as well as for subgroups of students defined by socioeconomic background, race/ethnicity, and English language proficiency.” (Linn, R. L., & Baker, E. L., & Betebenner, D. W., 2002). Over time, the NCLB made it impracticable for schools and educators to meet their requirements.

The previous version of the No Child Left Behind Act was established by United States Former President L....

... middle of paper ...

... from their teachers and peers while implementing a memory for students to reference to when working individually.

In contrast to Vygotsky’s theory, Piaget encourages learning through hands on activities and adapting to the environment. Piaget “describes two processes for adaptation, which is an organism’s ability to fit in with its environment, assimilation and accommodation.” (Blake B. & Pope T., 2008). In reference to assimilation, information and experiences are incorporated into preexisting ideas. The process of accommodations refers to modifying the cognitive structure or schemas to adapt to new experiences. “By incorporating Vygotsky 's and Piaget’s theory into teaching strategies in elementary classrooms, student learning is likely to increase” (Barbara Blake and Tambra Pope, 2002), dismissing the negative publicity and removing the need improvement rating.