Nclb Pros And Cons

In 2001, Former President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This Law launched the national standards and testing movement of the United States (2004).

The NCLB Act has undoubtedly established a focus on testing and data like no other testing reform in recent history. Now with end of NCLB and the beginning of the ESSA era, it is very possible that more parents and students will stand by their right to opt-out of high-stakes/standardized testing. It is fairly common for public schools in every state to start administering standardized test by at least third grade and every year thereafter on through high school. Although the ESSA also requires that all schools and districts have a testing rate of 95% or higher (as NCLB did as well), the likelihood of any disciplinary actions or penalties coming from not meeting that threshold seem to be nonexistent. Proof of this was seen when New York State

NCLB, the most recent version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was preceded by the Improving America’s Schools Act. Under that law, high-quality teaching and learning were not prevalent in all schools, and achievement gaps persisted, leading to agreement that a greater federal role for accountability was necessary—from which NCLB was born. NCLB authorized 45 programs in 10 different areas, but public debate tended to focus on the law’s testing, accountability, and teacher-quality requirements. NCLB required that students be tested in the subjects of English language arts (ELA) and math in grades three through eight and once in high school, and for states to use the results to assess how well schools were meeting “adequate yearly progress” goals for student proficiency in these subjects. Schools that consistently did not meet these goals overall, or for subgroups of students, were targeted for interventions, and eventually for sanctions.

Despite the evidence advocating for the effectiveness of these programs, some people still have some misgivings of the benefits. In “Pre-K’s Promise vs. the Actual Evidence” by David J. Armor, it is said that early education is unimpactful

Provide a definition of what a “high quality” preschool program consists of and why that is important.

"Making Sure That Schools Measure Up." Education Week, vol. 36, no. 16, 4 Jan. 2017, pp. 18-20. EBSCOhost. PDF. In this periodical article, Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week, reflects on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an update to the K-12 education law, in the one year since it was passed in 2016. Klein discusses how the ESSA was designed to improve shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the previous version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Klein also examines concerns over greater flexibility given to states and districts regarding issues such as standardized test, school choice, marginalized students. The Obama administration wrote how the accountability portion of the law would work, allowing states to pick their own goals, both a long term goal and short term goals. These goals must address students’ proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation

Perhaps pre-K programs serving poor and minority children have trouble attracting good teachers. Perhaps classrooms with more disadvantaged children are more difficult to manage. Perhaps teachers offer more basic instruction because disadvantaged children need to catch up. In any event, Ms. Valentino told me, “the gaps are huge.”

The ESEA Act of 1965 was enacted to offer equal educational opportunities to children from low income students with the help of Title 1 being the largest source of funding. With the help of Title 1 the schools would be able to provide supplemental services to these children. In Contrast, The NCLB Act requires states to use standardized test to test students in reading, math and science to see if academic progress is made and the students are proficient in grade level of these subjects. The NCLB Act also focused on eliminating socioeconomic and racial differences providing quality education to all students of America regardless of ethnic, socioeconomic and racial background. Whereas the ESEA Act only focused on low income family students, the NCLB Act included low- income students, students with disabilities, major racial and ethnic groups and English language learners by providing test results to show improvement and that each student reach the appropriate grade level performance. (Thomas & Brady, 2005, p. 51-56). Furthermore, A blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the ESEA differed by focusing on “moving from a punishment based system to a system that rewarded students and teachers for excellent teaching and student growth” (Woolfork, 2014, p.X). In Comparison, all of these educational policies have the same goal which is to improve the educational experience of students in all areas and populations. These policies help with the effectiveness of teaching learning

On December 10, 2015 President Obama signed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This act was a replacement for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB was a representation of the nation’s goals under president George Bush in which all children would be offered support in order to flourish academically. While ESSA has the same groundwork as NCLB Act, the government anticipates greater academic merit. Only time will tell if this will prove true, nevertheless ESSA will significantly change educational approaches in the upcoming years.

According to the Committee on Education and the Workforce (CEW), “Congress must replace No Child Left Behind with new policies that help every child access an excellent education.” (2015). They also stated that introducing ESSA, “will reduce the federal footprint, restore local control, and empower parents and education leaders to hold schools accountable for effectively teaching students.” The purpose of the ESSA to replace NCLB strict and unattainable regulations. For example, the accountability for the access of the students will depend on the state and school districts. Additionally, parents, particularly of those students who require special education, will have greater input in the education plan of the students and how it affects

NCLB provides money for school choice, so that students at “failing” schools can opt for other non-failing schools, as well as money to bring supplemental services (tutoring) into failing schools. Supporters argue that these provisions make economic sense: according to market theory increased choice and competition increases efficiency. Skeptics worry that these provisions do not go far enough to create truly competitive markets.

Early childhood education has many benefits and there is the potential for many significant outcomes if universal preschools were put into place. Some feel that children who start kindergarten without previously attended preschool sometimes lack certain skills such as social and communication skills and an inability to follow routines. There were also studies done that found attending preschool could help to close the achievement gap in the grade school years. A child’s first few years of life are most important, and they absorb the most during those years. By providing universal preschool, all children would be benefiting, especially those who are in at-risk families or part of the lower class. As a society, we have a responsibility to help the children in our communities and provide them with the education they need in order to help them succeed in life.

The ideas of No Child Left Behind have been debated from the start of the implementation of the initiative. Increasing the successfulness of underperforming students is certainly an admiral goal that should be a focus in schools across America. The No Child Left Behind Program, however good it’s intentions may have been, has failed to bridge the gap between the lowest performing students and their peers. What it has done is increased the need for supports for challenged learners which has in turned has required more money from the schools ever tightening budget cuts.

Another major problem of NCLB is the people who create the tests. State senators across the country make different tests and decide what should be in the learning curriculum. To become a state senator you do not need a degree, and the senators that do have degrees are typically degrees of business or law. Why did senators make the tests and not teachers? Many of the state senators writing the tests do not have the educational background needed to write tests. And because every state senate makes a different test for every state, students who move out of state are supposed to be able to pass a test that they have not learned about.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)/No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and its reauthorization through the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) of 2001 have the purpose of raising achievement and closing achievement gaps. NCLB focuses on proficiency for all students within the general education curriculum with grade level content and authorizes problems that support eligible schools to raise the “academic achievement of struggling learners and address the complex challenges that arise among students who live with disability, mobility problems, learning difficulties, poverty, transience and the need to learn a second language” (IDEA, 2004, p.2) Similarly, IAT through interventions and RTI