Teacher Engagement

Not only do students lose opportunity in learning from these areas, but the law is also underfunded which the defeats the purpose as well as contradicting itself in the sense that students won’t be achieving the goals set by this law. By 2011, more than 50% of schools were labeled “failing”, and lawmakers saw the need for a change, but weren’t able to produce a bill. That year, the Obama administration offered states a reprieve from many of the law’s mandates through a series of

While a few standardized tests over a student’s school career can be helpful to make sure students are on track and teachers are educating their students, the United States education system has far too many standardized tests. The U.S should reduce the number of tests given to students each year. The current amount of testing stresses students and forces teachers to “teach to the test”. Standardized testing has not and will not improve the American school

This act was put in place to improve students test scores, ensure that each child is getting the same amount of education, and to ensure each student gets the help they need. “In 2002 the No Child Left Behind act was enacted and this began the process of revamping the Nations school system in effort to increase test scores.” (qtd. Brown 77). One thing the No Child Left Behind act left out was character education in public schools. “The culture of schools often mirrors the white middle class norms and values evident in the greater U.S society” (qtd. Brown 96). Having that so many students are different and come from different cultures this has caused some potential for misunderstandings and miscommunication between teachers and students. Brown also states that “A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that only 32% of all public schools in the United States provided character education and service-learning as part of their curriculum” (qtd. Brown

With the NCLB’s focused emphasis on English and math standards, other educational areas such as the arts and sciences have been overlooked. The No Child Left Behind Act also focuses on bringing the lower scores up and not helping in raising the scores of those students who are already at higher levels leaving these higher achieving students behind in a push for equality. Although test scores have risen and the achievement gap between minority and white students has decreased, the No Child Left Behind Act has damaged the United States educational system by not addressing the needs of all students, forcing curricula to exclude arts, civics, foreign language and sciences, and emphasizing testing and not learning. It is time for a change.

Standardized testing has become a multi-million dollar business that has shown no substantial progress on the public school system across the nation. Our students and schools are being robbed of expressing creativity and critical thinking skills while major corporations are gaining more and more financial stability. Since the implementation of the harsh testing guidelines, it has forced

In 1965, Lyndon B Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in an attempt to achieve more equity among minority groups within the education system. Along with the numerous attempts to close the achievement gap came America’s first federally funded state assessments, created with the intention of holding the nation’s schools accountable for providing a quality education for every student. This legislation was revisited in 2001 by the Bush administration with the No Child Left Behind Act, which saw the achievement gap that still existed among ethnic minority groups, but also recognised a prominent gap within poverty- stricken communities. With this came state tests that were more difficult and more frequent in an attempt to further

If the schools didn’t make AYP for three years in a row, they had to provide free tutoring and supplemental educational service. Everyone involved felt that the NCLB had unsolved issues. (Randolph & Wilson-Younger, 2012). There are teachers that argue that the testing is not fair with the children that are under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Children with individualized education plans are being forced to take standardized test on their grade level and the teachers argue that the tests might be way above where these children are academically. This also includes the children who have English as their second language because they are struggling when they are taking the standardized tests. Additionally, Choi, (Aug. 2012) describes how many schools struggle to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the Act called No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Pressures on the schools to meet the AYP can affect how each school does their testing and teaching policies. While states have been silent, the question has been whether states have a responsibility to intervene.

Only recently with the addition of the Common Core Standardized Tests, students are being faced with more tests than ever. A typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Study says standardized...). In my opinion, the complexities of these tests are inclining to a degree where they are unreachable to the average student. These tests are an unreliable measure of performance with unfair instruction time. Student anxiety and stress has become so awful that the Standford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do in case a student vomits on the test. While the tests are there for students skill-measurement scores, they aren’t the only one’s who need to prepare for the exam. Teachers are equally pressured by their overhead figures to insure student’s score well. Just like the students, standardized tests are an imprecise measure of teacher performance, yet they are used to reward and punish teachers. Teachers are being required to a more progressive teaching style with emphasize on reflective learning. The effects of this are being nicknamed “drill and kill” test prep. Developing a corresponding curriculum prior to these assessments can be tricky because of the ambiguous content the Common Core requires. A considerable majority of these tests are given to students online. These already pricey tests come at an expensive cost for schools. An underlining problem people are concerned about is declining student scores being used as an excuse to close public schools that already can’t afford for the computers to take the test, and open more voucher

Tests implemented by Common Core have become an end in themselves as they have only increased-higher hurdles, being unreasonably difficult, creating a hostile learning environment and higher-stake and stress levels for children and teachers throughout the year. Proficiency from the percentage of students in both public and private schools dramatically dropped to the low 30s in 2015, with minimal improvement the next year (Singer, Results Are In: Common Core Fails Tests and Kids). The Common Core’s massive increases in standardized testing has not only seen a rise of resentment towards school, but a plunge in support among the general public.

Although its intentions were good, its results were not quite the same. At first the idea of holding all students to the same standards may sound like a good idea, but without taking into consideration other factors this could cause problems in schools. All students under the Act are held to the same achievement standards which are set by the state and when the state decides these standards they don’t observe each individual child’s ability level, socioeconomic status, or native language (Pros). Most public schools throughout the nation will have a variety of different types of students. If you hold all students to the same standards you are restricting the “more advanced” students from furthering their learning by holding them to the standards of their less intelligent peers. The only students who are not held to the same standards as the rest are those with severe physical or mental

Minority students should be getting the same level of education that white students get. But because they don’t, they receive lower test scores, which make people stereotype minority kids as lazy or not as smart as white kids.

The No Child Left Behind Act also has a very narrow focus on curriculum. The act focuses on just math and reading scores. This could have an undemocratic effect on a large generation of students in poorly performing schools. Schools would have take away much of the broad education in order to elevate scores on just two subject areas. Students in wealthy schools with good test scores will continue to learn a full range of subjects including art, social studies and science, while the students who scored poorly on the tests, will be receiving education in only two subject areas. It is not right to put two subjects as the top priority. This means that not all students will get a complete education. This concern with literacy and math skills divides

Today, it can be observed that society has shifted education drastically from the time schools were constituted, to now. Throughout history, schools have gone from private, where only the elite can attend, to public schools where virtually anyone can attend. One of the factors that goes along with education is standardized testing. Frederick J. Kelly, father of the standardized test, once said, “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” Not only has this shift occurred within education itself, but it has occurred within the testing concepts found within standardized testing so much so that the founder of these tests has chosen to give up on it.

Department of Education has granted waivers to 34 states and the District of Columbia exempting them from some of the core accountability measures in the bipartisan 2001 No Child Left Behind law. Ten more states have waiver applications pending (E. Smith).” There are only 50 states in the county and if 44 state are seeking exemption, clearly there are some issues with this act. According to my states governor, Bill Haslam, Tennessee was the first state to request a waiver, because “half of the schools in the state were identified as failing under the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) provisions of NCLB and an estimated 80 percent will fail AYP standards based on this year’s (2012) results (S.

According to a nationwide poll released “almost 70 percent of American adults who say they are familiar with the federal No Child Left Behind Act believe it has had no effect or is actually hurting public schools” (Greifner, 2006). Many parents began to see the effects this new law had on their children. The added stress of testing that would determine if you passed or failed your grade, homework by the boatloads, and normal childhood activities such as recess were becoming a thing of the past. Parents and educators began to speak out against the Act and have gone to their states political parties to try and encourage them to make a change. Some states have listened to the voices opposing No Child Left Behind and have sought waivers from the federal government to no longer participate or limit their participation with the law.