Essay On No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind Act was based on the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965. The act was established based on the promise of Thomas Jefferson to create a free public education system in Virginia (Hammond, Kohn, Meier, Sizer & Wood, 2004). The act is now reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The purpose of the No Child Left Behind Act was to make sure that children were given a fair, quality education. The act set out to close the achievement gaps in education, which were caused by children living in poverty, living with disabilities, children who were of different ethnic backgrounds and English learners. The proposed methods of the act targeted all children and provided an equal opportunity to meet

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was put into place to provide extra money for children who do not have money while trading their knowledge using their test scores. The NCLB Act says that students are to be given yearly tests along with yearly report cards to track how well they are doing in school, in doing so, school is not about fun and socializing but now it is all business. These tests not only do not help the students learn but puts a load of stress on their shoulders, alongside that the tests have no purpose other than grading how well a students is able to retain information.

second largest and oldest city in Georgia with a population of about 200,000. The school district

Throughout the history of education, several “fads” have made their way in and out of the schools. From whole language to phonics to No Child Left Behind, educators have modified their practices to fit with new curriculum and government mandates. Many teachers describe the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as “just another fad.” However, I believe that this is not the case.

Since the No Child Left Behind Act, also known as NCLB, has come into effect, it has caused some concerns with teachers and parents alike on how well it is working for the students. There have been issues that have arisen that needed to be addressed and instead been overlooked when a child does not meet with the school’s standardized testing and is pushed onto the next grade level.

In 2004, coinciding with the conclusion of President George W. Bush’s first term in office, United States Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, released an essay depicting the successes of his administration. Paige’s department spearheaded the initiative sparked by the No Child Left Behind Act, a set of policies enacted to reform education and provide students with an improved degree of learning more suited to the evolving job market. Paige brings light to the findings of his administration, presenting what he considers to be evidence explicitly showing the successful nature of these programs. Through numerous faults with his argumentation and reasoning, however, Paige’s opinion on the outcome of said policies is highly debatable. To judge

The American public educational system is filled with an assortment of problems. Most students are graduating with less knowledge and capability than similar students in other industrialized countries. Classroom disruptions are surprisingly common, and in some classrooms, nearly continuous. The public education system is having difficulty adjusting to the no child left behind act. The No Child Left Behind(NCLB) is a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of American’s schools.

Throughout the entirety of NCLB, the federal government has been judging schools in an obscene manner: how many students are proficient in a given year. Even though proficiency is defined differently in every state, and has changed over time (“A Failing Grade for No Child”). NCLB focusing solely on test scores to measure proficiency leaves behind real student growth. There is no praise for raising students from below-basic to basic or from proficient to advance. Meaning that schools are ignoring students at both end of the spectrum (“A Failing Grade for No Child”). NCLB does not care about student growth and education, all that matters is if they meet the required test

The positive side of the NCLB policy is that schools are now giving all students an opportunity to be academically successful. As a result, the quality of instruction, and learning has seen some progress. Students are getting an equal chance to quality education and ultimately academical success within the classroom.

* Teacher Qualifications: By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school had to be "highly qualified" in each subject he or she taught. Under the law, "highly qualified" generally meant that a teacher was certified and demonstrably proficient in his or her subject matter. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, all new teachers hired with federal Title I money had to be "highly qualified." By the end of the 2005-06 school year, all school paraprofessionals hired with Title I money must have completed

NCLB sets some new strategic directions to reform American education. The focus of President Bush's education agenda is to shift federal education dollars away from an emphasis on improving schools to an improvement of student performance and a closing of the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. NCLB is structured to tie funding to accountability and results.

But its inflexible accountability provisions have become an obstacle to progress and have focused schools too much on a single test score. (Duncan)NCLB is six years overdue for an update, and nearly all agree that it should be replaced(Duncan)Students in our poorest communities should enjoy learning opportunities like those in our wealthiest communities. Zip code, race, disability and family income should not limit students ' opportunities or reduce expectations for them.(Duncan).The Bush Administration has significantly underfunded NCLB at the state level, and yet, has required states to comply with all provisions of NCLB or risk losing federal funds.(Sen).teachers are pressured to teach a narrow set of test-taking skills and a test-limited range of knowledge.(white).At its core, NCLB faults schools and curriculum for student, but critics claim that other factors are also to blame.(white).including: class size, old and damaged school buildings, hunger and

The No Child Left Behind Act should tremendously be re-examined and amended because the focus on the standardized tests decrease the quality of other subjects not on the tests, the tests are not an efficient tool to make certain that a student is receiving an excellent education and the tests create unnecessary stress for the students, teachers and administrators. The purpose of No Child Left Behind is to provide every student with the opportunity to receive a top-grade education. This is a great proposal to strive towards but, legislation plans on achieving this proposal by making schools responsible for their students’ proficiency and to measure their proficiency with the use of standardized tests. After the students take the

One overlying problem seen is within the testing that takes place. Through the act standardized testing is implemented as a way to determine student proficiency levels, taking typical daily subjects out of the day to make room for test-taking curriculum. Teachers are no longer spending a majority of time on practical real-world skills, but are cramming the days with test-taking strategies and skills needed to “prove” their intelligence to the United States government. “High stakes testing causes teachers to ‘teach to the test,’ which means narrowing content to focus solely on topics covered by the tests” (Bohrnstedt et. al. 324). Students are no longer yearning for an education but rather more are dropping out yearly since No Child Left Behind has taken place, due to the intense testing that is now required. Teachers are having to

In what follows I first provide a history and explanation of the NCLB act. As well as the thinking behind this piece of legislation. Then, I show how the NCLB’s rules and standardized testing are destructive to teaching. Finally, I argue how the act is leading to the overall downfall of our educational system.