According to Wikipedia.Com, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is an act that was passed by George W. Bush in 2001. It is a United States federal Law the reauthorized a number of federal programs aiming to improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools. This act requires for schools in every state to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to students in certain grades so those states can receive federal funding for schools. According to www.state.nj.us/education/grants/nclb/ the NCLB also changes the federal government’s role in K-12 education by focusing on school success as measured by student achievement. The act also contains the president’s 4 basic education reform principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work.
The real question is how has NCLB impacted the educational system? Well the good thing about the NCLB law is that children are beginning to do better on the PSSA’s. The PSSA’s is the test that is looked at by the government that shows if the schools are meeting the requirements set by the government. Most schools in Philadelphia show an increasing percent of students who are doing better in math and reading starting form 2001. The scores are first matched against the whole school then the city and finally to the state.
The cons of the NCLB act is if a certain school doesn’t meet the requirements of the state then the school will lose federal funding. Some people state that NCLB could reduce effective and student learning because it may cause states to lower their achievement goals and to motivate teachers to teach the test. Another problem with this law is all major teachers’ unions are against the law they state that the law isn’t effective in improving student education in elementary, middle and especially high school. Another con is that higher teacher qualifications have worsened the nationwide teacher shortage. If there are less teachers how on earth are the students suppose to learn?
Personally from researching and reading the text the NCLB law is bad and good. I can’t say that I totally agree with the law but I can’t disagree. In a way the law is helping students achieve and reach higher goals. On the bad side it’s also lowering schools chances in achieving their goals. My school is not directly affected by the NCLB law because it is a charter school and we do not receive funding from the government, and I’m partly happy about that but at the same time I would really like to have higher goals to achieve.
