Change is inevitable. When the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative finally became defunct, a new accountability system emerged. In San Francisco Unified School District, central administrative teams began a transition phase starting as early as four to five years ago when Common Core State Standards were introduced to low performing schools. As the Instructional Reform Facilitator during that time, it was exciting because new and more robust learning/content standards also required a change in our approach to instruction and assessment. This was the lever in my mind that this could help close the achievement gap. However this new initiative also brings uncertainty and apprehension for many teachers. When I began my first year as …show more content…
My theory of action was if I help teachers build instructional capacity by developing and improving their backwards planning or curriculum mapping (identifying essential standards) and enhance their data analysis approach, will they make a shift from following a script to making effective instructional decisions based on the specific needs of students. My strategic actions were to plan and design professional development opportunities that would enhance the teachers’ instructional practices and differentiate my support for them through professional learning communities, informal walkthroughs, and formal evaluation processes. During one of our professional development days in the week before school started, we spent an entire day reviewing the curriculum mapping process and began identifying the most essential standards and learning outcomes for students. One subtle indicator was that only two teachers demonstrated understanding about the importance of using assessment results to plan their first two weeks of lessons. One suggested that they would begin with a writing prompt to determine where students were in their narrative writing, and the other expressed the urgency to administer the reading assessment so that she could put her students in reading groups. Eighty percent of our staff were either longing for the
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.
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 last century in American history has yielded educational reforms, federal legislations, school improvement plans and interventions, which consistently influence best practices in school systems. After the report, A Nation at Risk (1983), the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was reauthorized in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). This reauthorization was a call to attain educational equality for all American students and to lessen the achievement gaps between and among ethnicity groups, children of poverty, and disabled populations (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Additionally, because of this increased scrutiny of student performance, other classification categories emerged such as gender.
Traditionally, educators have been held to some degree of expectation regarding student learning and increasing student aptitude; however, public expectations increased to a new level as a result of the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act [NCLB] (2002). NCLB was passed to ensure educational equity and increased academic achievement for all students. The legislation charged school district leaders with holding schools accountable for alignment with national and/or state standards that often mandated significant gains in student academic achievement, particularly for low-performing student populations, and that is measured by student performance on high-stakes tests. The test results created the data analyzed to design
The list of failing schools in Arkansas was released and not one actual teacher had any comments on the release. Fixing public education always begins from the top and then works its way down to the bottom, where the actual results come from. The school itself has to prove to everyone about them that they are improving. However, every child is different, which is why grades don’t necessarily reflect accurately what children have learned nor does it reflect the real progress they have made. All students are different and all teachers grade differently, along with several other variables than come into play during the grading process. Education reform has already hit a dead end and they are trying to fix it with standardized testing. Standardized
On January 8, 2002, President George Bush signed into law The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which was a reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was designed to help disadvantaged students achieve success in school (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011) The components of The No Child Left Behind included annual testing, academic progress, report cards, teacher qualifications, and funding changes. These measures were “designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress” (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011, para. 3). NCLB also promised to close the achievement gap and increase student learning (Hursh 2007).
Today’s emphasis on school and teacher accountability has taken the focus away from our main objective which is student learning and achievement. The rise of both school and teacher accountability became a detrimental aftermath of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. The NCLB Act of 2001 set about using state-mandated assessments to hold schools accountable for a student’s performance on the standardized tests with the purpose of closing the achievement gaps among all students regardless of race, class or disability, while attaching high-stake consequences to
Making the NCLB Act effective is quite a chore for the federal and state legislation. The positive influences for the act are quite controversial. Accountability standards are set and measured on a yearly basis by each individual state. The educator’s qualifications and standards are also state and federally mandated. Reading, math and writing are the key academic subjects that are measured. The goal is to close the gap among race, socioeconomic groups, and disabled students. The schools tend to focus on these areas, while they direct the education toward the test taking success rather than the child’s needs. Parents are given a whole academic achievement picture when receiving the test scores.
On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), replacing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). ESSA was passed with bipartisan support and allows a more flexible plan for decision making for education at the state and local levels. Full implementation begins July 1, 2017. ESSA gives states more leeway in a wide range of areas, and the U.S. Department of Education role in accountability is considerably scaled back. The main difference in ESSA is that it hands the educational accountability ball from the federal government to the states.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, President George W. Bush's education reform bill, was signed into law on Jan. 8, 2002. The No Child Left Behind Act says that states will develop and apply challenging academic standards in reading and math. It will also set annual progress objectives to make sure that all groups of students reach proficiency within 12 years. And the act also says that children will be tested annually in grades 3 through 8, in reading and math to measure their progress. The test results will be made public in annual report cards on how schools and states are progressing toward their objectives.
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed by Congress in 2001 with overwhelming bipartisan support. On Jan. 8, 2002, the Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The initiation of this policy in the education sector marked the most recent expansion of the federal role in education especially to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The NCLB policy was developed out of the concern that the American education system was historically disadvantaged over time, and the federal government needed to play a greater role in increasing its responsibilities in the education sector for purposes of making the American education sector internationally competitive.
The staff at Willows High School is in a transition from the old state wide assessments to the new Common Core State Standards. The collaboration time has been focused on curriculum review and instruction to ensure their students will be prepared for common core assessments. Collaboration time is also used to focus on critical reflection and goal setting. They are making critical decisions on what to “let go” and what instructional strategies are no longer effective in ensuring students will meet the proficiency standards.
Schools provide a place in which students can explore not only facts and numbers but also their minds. Knowledge embodies more than just the material students learn, but also learning from life experiences that shape the way they learn and adapt both in and out of the classroom. Most successful adults do not find themselves needing to use the quadratic formula or quote Shakespeare on a daily basis, yet in the school systems today memorizing and reciting formulas and facts is the main measure of success since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Although the No Child Left Behind Act was intended to help all students learn, the flaws in this undertaking lead to opposite results, consequently leading to the lack of freedom in school systems for all parties.
The paper is fundamental as it looks at the No Child Left Behind Act that was put into practice because the American education system was no longer internationally competitive. The outcome of the challenge is the federal education system function was increased towards holding schools accountable for the academic progress of all students. The implication here is that the No Child Left Behind Act focused primarily on states and schools, so as to boost the performance of different groups of students as a way of fulfilling their education rights. The primary agencies associated with the implementation and benefits offered under the policy are federal government, states and schools. They are encouraged to work as a team, so as to effectively ascertain that students are in the right way and successful.
The school board is a district’s link between the community and the school. This well-meaning board serves to ensure the highest quality of education. However, the board has a specific role and my role as superintendent requires me to evaluate the effectiveness of district plans and programs. I would not want to make the mistakes of launching these curricula and leave our teachers with little or no direction (provide them with high-quality professional development). Initially, I would want to review our current curriculum with principals and curriculum director to see just how much change would be required with the implementation. This group of stakeholders would review the district’s mission and vision to ensure alignment with the new standards.