The Problem Of The No Child Left Behind Act

When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law in 2002, the legislation had one goal-- to improve educational equity for all students in the United States by implementing standards for student achievement and school district and teacher performance. Before the No Child Left Behind Act, the program of study for most schools was developed and implemented by individual states and local communities’ school boards. Proponents of the NCLB believed that lax oversight and lack of measurable standards by state and local communities was leading to the failure of the education system and required federal government intervention to correct. At the time, the Act seemed to be what the American educational system

The no child left behind was a U.S Act of Congress that was create to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The no child left behind was affects what students are taught, the tests they take, the training of the teachers, and the way money is spent on education. However it did not improve the education system since it was used to measure the student improvement in order to receive federal funding and if the school didn’t do good on these tests they lose their federal funding which means that the students from these school was not going to receive a good education. In addition, the no child left behind was not successful because teachers will focus more time on math, science, and English and annoy the other subject. Students

Since the No Child Left Behind Act 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 to be addressed and instead been overlooked. Because in “Is No Child Left Behind Effective For All

The No Child left Behind Act was intended to close the achievement gap in elementary and secondary schools by allowing each and every student the opportunity to have the best education possible. This law was signed by George W. Bush in 2001 who described it as a law that will, “Ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education”(Neill 2). The No Child Left Behind Act was only intended to help the students, but it is clear, not only to teachers, parents, and professionals, that it is time for a reauthorized law; One that each and every student can benefit from. The achievement gap in America’s school systems still exists. For the sake of America’s future, the school system must make a change now or the future of this country will suffer.

While NCLB appears great in principle, it is failing in actuality. The main purpose of the Act was to close the achievement gap between White and minority students, especially Black and Latino students, by increasing educational equality. The differences in the achievement gap is to be measured yearly through the use of standardized testing. As each student is unique, the use of standardized tests to measure whether students reach 100% proficiency is unrealistic. Teachers, principals, and school boards are so worried about being “proficient” that teachers are now teaching for the test, not teaching a rounded curriculum. With schools afraid that they may possibly receive sanctions, schools are now cheating the system by finding ways to bolster their scores to improve state AYP rates. Paul D. Houston explains in his article “The 7 Deadly Sins of NCLB,” that the Act relies on fear and coercion (2007). Teachers, school boards, and states are so afraid of receiving a failing grade that they are willing to skew results in their favour. Not to mention that states are allowed to choose their own statistical method to analyze their scores. Due to many unforeseen variables, these differences make it almost impossible to imply causation that students are reaching proficiency due to the NCLB Act.

In 2002, the No Child Left Behind act, was made into a law by President Bush. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills, and to turn these assessments over to the government to receive funding for their school. This law implemented standardized test that all students needed to take. Many teachers felt that their teaching ability was being based off these test scores. Teachers should not be evaluated on their students performance on exams.

So are our current education standards working? There is much praise by some parents for NCLB (Randolph 2012). Parents have seen there

In fact, rather than improving student learning, it hinders it. The first thing wrong with the NCLB act are its harsh cascading punishments. These punishments range from mandated tutoring all the way to school takeover (Rich). Punishments are given to schools that fail to reach the already flawed rating system. Schools are required to obtain certain test scores, which are given by the state, if they want to avoid the punishments. This pressure that is put on schools forces them to lower passing scores and make the tests easier. Schools do this to inflate the number of students deemed proficient (Rich). This shows schools would rather lie about student growth than face federal punishment. Secondly, student test scores are actually dropping. “The Bush administration claims victories, but upon closer scrutiny it becomes clear that the White House is simply dressing up ugly data with fancy political spin. Far from leaving no child behind, President Bush seems to have left reality behind.” (Richardson) The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows a slight narrowing of the racial achievement gap over the past three years. Yet, this is due to a decline in overall reading scores, not improvements in minority student performance. This is not

“The Essentials of a Good Education,” by Diane Ravitch, questions the current schooling system and acts surrounding the system.Imagine a world where everyone was the same, we all dressed, ate, and did the same thing everyday. That is basically what the, “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) act did. In the reading, ¨The Essentials of a Good Education,” it discusses how NCLB closes the academic gaps between economically advantaged students and students who are from different economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds as well as students with disabilities and how this is not a good thing; but as you read you will start to question yourself if it is or not.

No child left behind does nothing but dishearten the students who are proving to be ahead of the average student from wanting to improve. While the struggling students are simply carried from one grade to the next. The No Child Left Behind Act is great in theory but is too heavily reliant on standardized tests and percentages and not enough about what the students actually learn. Being a survivor of NCLB I have had firsthand experience with this topic and from an above average students point of view it really deterred me from wanting to push myself further and eventually lead to me falling into the average category as my high school career came to an end. Teachers and students treat education with the idea of “just

The No Child Left Behind act is a nationwide legal system that is considered to improve our education system. The NCLB act improves our education system by setting a standard for each school to meet (a required academic standard), hire high quality teachers, improve communication with parents, and provide a safe environment for the students. However after the NCLB act took effect, not much was accomplished. Now many question whether the NCLB is really necessary.

The No Child Left Behind Act was created in 2001 by President George W. Bush. The act was created to raise the standards of low performing children. The act was also created to reform an earlier education act put in place by President Johnson as a part of his War on Poverty; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act “...established that children from low-income homes required more educational services than children from affluent homes.” (Reforming No Child Left Behind http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/reforming-no-child-left-behind )Paragraph and also it budgeted one billion dollars to Title I services in underprivileged high schools. The No Child Left behind act continued on the basis of this principle; however, very little is stated about the high achieving student in either act. The No Child Left Behind program does not address, nor does it provide, educational opportunities or benefits for the higher advanced learners.

The no child left behind program is one program that all parents and teachers should look in because it improves the child's teaching ability, learning, and school improvement skills. This type of program helps

Democrats and Republicans should challenge the No Child Left Behind Act. Even though the No Child Left Behind Act has good intentions to help children, there are many hazardous strategies involved. The No Child Left Behind Act may do more harm than good. The strategies in the No Child Left Behind Act do not contain research evidence to support the law. The No Child Left Behind Act guidelines that were published in December, 2002 by the United States Department of Education, insist that parents of students in poorly performing schools be allowed to transfer them to a different school, even if it causes overcrowding somewhere else.

The No Child Left Behind Act. At first glance, this act sounds like all it can do for the educational system is improve it. If no student is left behind then everyone can have equal opportunities right? But if teachers are constantly testing in order to measure progress, then students can be held back. No Child Left Behind Act(NCLB) requires testing in schools in order to help regulate education and to measure how qualified teachers are. Some argue that the NCLB act adds many positive aspects to the educational system. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. The act enforces testing thus limiting the teacher's freedom causing him or her to teach to the test. This form of teaching, in turn, inhibits the student’s creativity.