...No Child Left Behind, Does it Work? Debra Roberson Ashford University No Child Left Behind In 2001, then President G.W. Bush introduced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The U.S. Congress, with bipartisan support, passed the act. The NCLB Act was brought about to combat the rising and devastating social divide within the educational system. “The law targeted early learning, measuring student performance, offering options to failing schools, and ensuring more resources for schools” (Dolgoff, 2009, p. 125). The 1965 Elementary and Second Education Act allotted funding for primary and secondary education. This act was put in place to make sure all children were given equal education and equal opportunities with their education. (The Santa Fe New Mexican, pp. 1- 2003, A.1.) The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a reauthorization of the 1965 ESA. New standards were put in place that required schools to meet certain criteria or lose funding for their schools. The NCLB Act has 37 categories that each school must meet. There are also 10 specific guidelines for AYP, Adequate Yearly Progress. Adequate Yearly Progress Ten Categories: The Adequate Yearly Progress allows the government to determine how a school is performing academically based on the results of the required standardized tests. The Department of Education guidelines for the AYP are: 1. A single statewide accountability system, which is applied to all public schools and local education agencies...
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...Problem Solving GS1140 No Child Left Behind The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was originally called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESES); it was debated in congress in 1964 and passed into law in 1966 by President L.B. Johnson. In 2001 president G.W. Bush revised the ESEA and called it the No Child Left Behind, and passed it into law in 2002. The NCLB was passed into law and is in effect in all fifty states in the U.S. NCLB requires all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a state wide standardize test annually to all students. This means all students must take the same test under the same conditions. The NCLB goal is to improve higher achievement in education for poor and minority students, also students with disability. In order for schools to receive federal funding states must test all students at selected grade levels. The requirements are grades 3 through 8 being tested every year in reading and math. Along with the testing there are other measures that the state holds the schools accountable for, annual testing is on by the 2005-06 school year, sate were required to begin testing students in grades 3-8 annually in reading and math. By 2007-08 students had to be tested in science at least once in elementary, middle and high school (www.edweek.org/ew/issues/no-child-left-behind/). Another is academic progress; each state creates their own academic standards for what a child should know and learn. The states are required to bring...
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...involved with the way children learn, and I do not think it’s right. In 1965, the government got involved with the way children learn. The Elementary and Secondary Education act of 1965 is where it begins. Now this act was designed to help the United States schools to perform better and to see the flaws in teaching and the schools in general in every state. I, being a mother, see no problem with that. If it is to improve the way the teachers teach their student’s, I’m all for it. In 2001, this law was revised and a proposal was set forth on January 23rd 2001. No Child Left Behind was the new name, and it was signed into law on January 8th 2002. This new revised version of the Elementary and Secondary Education act of 1965, now known as NCLB, is not helping our children at all. The act wants schools to meet a certain standard, which I think is impossible. Every child learns differently. All students across the U.S. in certain grades are given a basic skills test if their school receives federal funding. The standards are set for each individual state. To me, that is wrong. In all areas every child learns differently and the law makers do not take it into consideration. The main question I come across is: Does this system work? My personal opinion is no way, it doesn’t work for a second....
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... Abstract The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a federal law that mandates a number of programs aimed at improving U.S. education in elementary, middle, and high school by increasing accountability standards. The aproach of NCLB is based on theories in education that high expectations and goal setting will result in greater educational achievement for most students. High standards for all students as well as educators are quality goals, however, using standardized tests to measure success is not the most effective method. Having high standards is a necessary part of our nation's success, it sets a high level of accountability and provides benchmarks for both the student and educators. Those schools that are categorized as performing poor are required to have supplemental asistance like tutoring, after school programs or even replacing teacher completely. Schools risk being restructured or even taken over by the state is after five years of not making adequate yearly progress. But standardized testing is an ineffective way of assessing individual student performance. This type of test gives reason to teach according to what is on the test, rather than for authentic learning. When using standardized tests there is no room to account for differennt learning styles and strengths of each student. Everyone learns differenntly but with this type of test doesn't allow for individuality. NCLB believes that boosting standardized tests scores should be the primary...
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...education? The future of any country of any nation depends directly upon the degree of cultural and educational development of younger generations. Besides, any education system needs constant control and upgrading to correspond to world standards and bring better results. This leads to discussing the Act of 2001, which received the name “No Child Left Behind” signed by President Bush at the beginning of the year 2002. NCLB is said to be “a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education” (Mathis, 2003, pg. 679). The special aid program for disadvantaged students was the first to expand the ESEA. NCLB was formed in an answer to the reaction of public concern of education, with stricter guidelines for testing, and a stronger importance for highly qualified teachers’. Because of the public reaction about education the key aims of the “No Child Left Behind” Act is to improve as much as possible the situation in education and provide sufficient support for the disadvantaged students. The NCLB does not allow a single public school to be left out of this document. The Act consists of several measures described, aiming at driving broad gains in students’ achievements and at making schools more accountable for the progress of their students (West & Peterson, 2003)....
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...the important and interesting subjects, because they are non -tested subjects, such as art, social studies, health and even music. The NCLB is causing problems because student’s who don’t meet these standard have to face a lot of consequences No child left behind act does more harm than good as it ruin funding for schooling and it also places too much attention on testing. For instance, school are place on different levels according to the percentage of students passing the standardized test that is given in the subject areas. Schools that don’t have a high percentage of students passing the examination are put on probationary status. These school are even forced to undergo review by the state over the next year and if they don’t improve in these subjects, they will be at risk of losing their accreditation. furthermore, school may reach the point where they have to be shut down or relocate students. Some of the teachers are going home late and not having enough time to go home and relax because they are providing tutoring to increase their student’s scores fearing that the state will take over or shut the school down completely. For example, according to Diane Ravitch a historian of education stated in her article “Time to kill no child left behind” explains the consequences teachers and students will face if they don’t meet the requirement in NCLB. She said that, school that don’t make progress towards 100% proficiency for...
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...Composition I December 10, 2009 The Gifted and No Child Left Behind As each year progresses, students are facing many more challenges and struggles. Sadly, most of these are faced in the classrooms with the emphasis on the children being adequate in their studies. To help relieve some of these troubles, former president George W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on January 2, 2002. Congress created this act to bring all students up to a base level of knowledge needed to be deemed successful for federally mandated tests as stated in No Child Left Behind (Kanjorski 1426). These standardized tests assess students’ knowledge in mathematics, reading comprehension, writing conventions and now science. With focus being shifted to bringing students up to par, the students on the other end of the spectrum, the gifted, have lost the support and programs in which they thrive. Because of this, it can be stated that No Child Left Behind hinders the performance of gifted students. Linda Kenny, a reporter for School Administrator, a well-known periodical, states: “One of the great myths is the assumption that bright kids will make it on their own… But they do need support and they do need the focus.” The curriculums that these students strive on have been pushed to the wayside in many different ways. In a school in Kentucky, the “TREASURES (To Recruit, Educate, and Serve Under-Represented Exceptional Students) Approach” was abandoned. The main reason for the...
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...Left Behind Cons The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has been a controversial topic from its start. There are passionate debaters on both sides of the arguments, each with their own validity behind their stance. Last week was all about focusing on the pros NCLB brings to the table, now lets dive into the cons. What are the negative affects? According to "Educational Research Newsletter And Webinars" (2006), " By imposing standards on students’ minds we are, in effect, depriving them of their fundamental intellectual freedom by applying one standard set of knowledge. Standardized tests oversimplify knowledge and do not test higher-order thinking skills. State standards are externally imposed on local teachers.” and “One-size-fits-all standards either dumb down instruction to the lowest common denominator or condemn low-ability students to frequent failure” (Standard-based assessments). The point this brings up is a strong one. How can the educational system except to successfully teach all students using the exact same model when it’s a well-known fact everyone has vastly different learning styles. Metaphorically, trying to shove the square through the circle whole is going to always lead to failure. The idea of having a set standard that all children should know is obviously very important, but setting down a specific guideline all kids are supposed to form to via an annual standardized test doesn’t work. The "Nclb Stories From The Front Lines" (N.D.) website was...
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...American schools have drastically changed since the implementation of No Child Left Behind. Since its adoption in 2002, the law has been revised several times. The goal of NCLB is to close the achievement gap and improve education by holding administrators and teachers accountable for student learning and performance. The legislation requires state developed tests, with predetermined proficiency standards, in core subject areas (Solomon, 2009). NCLB also calls for improving teacher quality. In the past years, states have focused on revising teacher evaluation policies in order to achieve the goal of highly qualified teachers in every classroom (Hazi & Rucinski, 2009). NCLB aims to improve education by placing highly qualified teachers in every...
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...In 2001, former President George Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which “required states to develop assessments in basic skills” (No Child Left Behind Act). “NCLB expanded the role in public education through further emphasis on annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards, and teacher qualifications” (No Child Left Behind Act). Schools that miss the Adequate Yearly Progress, “which was based in large part on the percentage of students at or above grade level (Lauen and Gaddis) are classified as “in need of improvement.” These schools must develop a two-year improvement plan. Students must pass yearly tests that judge student’s improvement over the year. Students test scores dictate whether or not a school meets the required standards. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, schools were held accountable for levels of...
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...Special Education and the Principles of NCLB Rebecca Foster AED/222 October 30, 2011 Paula Alysha Glover Special Education and the Principles of NCLB The No Child Left behind Act, (NCLB 2001), was designed to raise the standard for education in the United States. This act has five core principles that have been the foundation of the NCLB act which have each had pros and cons. States are responsible for being accountable for goal setting as well as for showing improvement of test results. The pros of this principle are that states have the authority to set their own goals, which is good because states have a better understanding of their population and their social economic factors that may affect test scores. The cons of states being responsible for their standards is that they have the ability to set their goals low to make it appear as though they are achieving better scores. Another problem with this is due to the varying local social and economic differences test scores may not be reflected fairly. Teachers are pressured to teach their students how to do well on the standardized testing instead of teaching for students to learn. The testing is also unfair because of the students with disabilities, students are discriminated upon because the state is able to make one percent of their students exempt to make up for these types of students. The NCLB act allows states and local officials to have greater flexibility when allocating where funds should go within the...
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...“After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009” (Standardized Testing). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed by George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The Act required all United States students have 100% proficiency on state reading and math test by the year 2014 (Standardized Tests). Since this act has been passed by Congress there has been a wide debate over the requirements and standardized test. The No Child Left Behind Act is not an effective educational policy because the teaching focus is on standardized testing, there is a negative impact on students, and penalizing on schools and teachers for not...
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...it’s Time to Replace No Child Left Behind” in Time Magazine, Kayla Webley reports on the difficulties schools across the nation are going through because of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The article goes more in depth and explains the core issues with the NCLB and why it backfired the second they signed it. As Fair Fax county superintendent Jack dales says about the law, “It’s become meaningless” (Webley 42). As the law continues to conduct mayhem across the nation’s schools, more and more students are becoming slaves to the tests and are lacking basic academic skills. The article shows convincingly that NCLB is not working and needs to be restructured. However, I feel the NCLB can have a long lasting impact on the schools if the government would allow more flexibility in the classroom, and implement a rigorous schedule for the students. The high standards and narrow curriculum are taking away the creativity of the teachers’ lesson plans, but the creativity of the lesson plans is just one of the solutions the NCLB really needs. First of all, the NCLB focuses mainly on what is on the tests and lacks contextual creativity in the teacher’s lesson plans. NCLB needs to allow more flexibility in the classrooms so that teachers are able to teach at a higher rate. Webley explains that “NCLB has sucked the creativity out of their lesson plans, forcing them to narrow their curriculums and teach only those concepts that will be on the state tests” (44). The government should...
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...Warren C. Everett| October 23, 2014| Initial Findings| Human Rights PS 459 The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was drafted into legislation in hopes of substantially tightening the achievement gap in public education. Deriving from a concern about the efficacy of public education in America, the NCLB is meant to improve education in general, especially for minority students and also for students who have special needs (Ermolaeva and Ross, 2010 p. 33). The legislation is a junction of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and also President Bush’s strategies, which include: “Increased accountability for results from states, school districts, and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly those in low-performing schools; more flexibility for states and local educational agencies in the use of federal funds; qualified teachers in their subject areas; stronger emphasis on reading and mathematics; and scientifically based education methods,” (Harrison 2010, 346). The legislation was met with generally positive reviews due to its emphasis to remedy many of the factors, which have for centuries plagued the public education system. Yet, in recent years, the act is a hot button topic in debates among scholars, educators and parents. The NCLB has been praised for its initiative to fix the public education system and its advocacy for underrepresented students. Rhode (2012) says, “ No Child Left Behind represented an episode of bounded institutional...
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...No Child Left Behind Luisa Villalba EDU623 Professor Smith November 5, 2012 The No Child Left Behind act was put in place to help better educate America’s youth. The NCLB act shines light on our education system, and how our focus needs to be on educating our children. Explore what the NCLB act was intended to do its pros and cons, and President Obama’s fight to reform NCLB. In 2001 President George W. Bush proposed a federal law known as The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The law supports several federal programs intended to improve U.S. schools by raising the standards of responsibility for school districts, schools, and states. The law also allows room for parents to choose the schools they would like their children to attend. The NCLB act concentrates on increasing reading, and math sores nationwide. The objective of the NCLB act is that all students meet state guidelines set in hopes of students reaching their full academic potential. Funding for the NCLB act is divided into quite a few sections, or titles. For example * Title I, Part A focuses on obtaining resources for disadvantaged students. This is done by providing funding to bring qualified educators into the classroom. * Title 1, Part D ensures that children who are found to delinquent, or neglected receive quality education while in detention centers, or institutions. * Title II, Part A concentrates on bettering the quality of teachers, and principals. This title...
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