No Child Left Behind

( 2 Votes ) I wrote this for my Law, Values and Public Policies class.

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Whenever people talk about No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB, enacted by former president Bush, people will generally like it or hate it. There is really no gray area in between. The people who support it look at the NCLB as a possible solution to solve the United States education crisis. On the flip side, the people against it believed that NCLB causes more problems than the ones that it resolves.

There are several reasons as to why the No Child Left Behind act was a necessary act whose main purpose is to increase the education level within the United States. However, a major dilemma that this act faces is that generally Americans do not really look at being educated as being important. For the most part they understand that math and science education is important though they do not see a correlation between that and the need to increase the coursework for those subjects. They also feel that their children’s education is generally much better and harder than the education they received decades ago. As a result, they feel as though there is nothing really to be fixed. [17]

It is interesting to see which groups wanted to get NCLB enacted. This act was passed with the help of both the Republicans and Democratic. The main people behind this proposal were Republican Senators John Boehner with George Miller and the Democratic Senators Judd Gregg with Ted Kennedy. From the acts initial proposal to its signing, it took around 8 months for it to go through the House, Senate and several committees before former President Bush to signed it into law. [8]

One possible area that is causing the very dilemma that the NCLB faces is our very own culture. For example, we are shown quite often that a lucky event can happen to us and that we will no longer need an education so that a person can survive. This is shown time and again in such activates as gambling, entering the lottery or being able to become the winner of contests like Survivor. For the most part, a lot of people have an optimism bias in which they are often overly optimistic about the possible outcomes of planned actions.

Another important aspect to look is at how many adults have at least a high school diploma. There are a high percentage of adults who do not have a high school diploma. According to the 2000 US census, it shows data that indicates states had an adult population who are over the age of 25 had numbers between 11% - 27% of adults who did not have a high school diploma. [9] In the 2006 US census there were around 28 million adults over the age of 25 do not have a diploma. [5] As a result, how can we assume and ask that older people without a diploma can put an emphasis to younger people that they should get educated and that they should get diplomas?

According to a study done a few months ago, Americans have a very low amount of knowledge about several very important scientific issues. Another national survey concluded that 47% of Americans do not know the amount of time it takes the sun to travel around the world, 41% believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed in the past and that 53% were unable to get an approximate percentage of how much fresh water is on the planet. Of these three questions, 79% were unable to answer all three correctly. Ironically, there is a high degree of belief that education in the sciences is "absolutely essential."[1]

However, the biggest hurdle in regards to an education within the states is the notion of instant gratification and the value we place upon having an education. To Americans, education is something that is as common as having clear running water and continuous power. As a result, they do not give a second thought about it and it appears that many tend not to place any importance upon it. However in most, if not all other countries, they do not have an arrogant attitude about education. Elsewhere, an education is look at as a gift, privilege and a luxury. They will often see it as something that is really important that can give them and their families a better life and allow them to move up in the world.

The claim that schooling in the US is generally considered both a privilege and a luxury in other parts of the world is quite true. For the most part, most children are able to receive an education because for most cases it is relatively cheap to get one. As a result, it is taken for granted that any child can get one. However in 1999, 80% of girls and 60% of boys were unable to go to school in Lijiagou, China. [13] There are several reasons why education is looked at as a luxury; some of them are due to economic reasons. Sometimes, families are just unable to afford to send their children to school. In addition, those same families need their children to stay at home so that they can make some extra income from the work that the children can accomplish. [3]

There are many claims that supposedly back up the notion that this act would be effective. Some of those claims include but are not limited to the increase accountability in public schools, increase test scores, gives students the choice to change schools, it is much better than the local standards, increases the quality of education, gives more funding to schools and that it would improve the public’s view that public schools are failing our children. [2]

The increased accountability in NCLB was made possible by increasing the mechanisms to assess student performance. By 2014, NCLB would require that students be at least proficient or at grade level in order for that school to receive federal funding. It also requires that every public school to have annual reports, Adequate Yearly Progress, for the families and the general public in which the reports gives district academic achievement that is broken down by school and grade level. [7]

Student reading and math progress would be measured yearly between the third and eighth grades and at least once in the high school through the use of standardized tests. In addition, it also stated that it increases the parental involvement and also improves schools administration. [8] In addition, the claim that NCLB would increase student test scores has yet to be proven. According to a 2005 study, there were little improvements within reading for fourth and eighth graders since two years prior. It also stated that the math gains were worse than those of previous years. [11]

Another beneficial claim made by NCLB is that it gives students the ability to switch schools if the school that they attend falls short of the NCLB criteria. If a student is attending a school that fails their Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP, that school must offer students who are eligible to option of moving to other local schools that have a higher performance level. In addition, students will be able to programs that are provided after school is over or they are able to receive free tutoring. [8]

A possible way to see whether or not NCLB is actually working and is effective is to compare the test scores of US children to the test scores of foreign students. This can be done by using the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The purpose of PISA is to get the scholastic performances of 15 year old school kids from all over the world and which occurs every 3 years. [10]

One would assume that we would automatically be in the top 10, maybe even then top five countries that participated. However, according to the 2003 PISA results indicates that the US did not occupy the top five positions nor was it even able to place among the top ten positions. The US was in 24th place of the 29 countries that participated that year. The categories that were used were Mathematics, Reading literacy, Science and Problem solving. Generally, it was the same group of countries that were top five in all of the categories. [10]

Some might say that this could just have been an error in how the PISA test was run in 2003. However, the same results were reached in the 2006 PISA results. The same countries that were in the top 5 spot in PISA 2003 were there again in PISA 2006. This time around, the top 20 countries were shown, and sadly we were not on it in either of the categories previously mentioned. [10].

As one would most likely assume, there are quite a few criticisms made towards NCLB. Some of them are in regards to the provided funding that schools receive, the use of using standardized testing to evaluate all students, the fact that teachers are often compelled to basically teach students materials that will only appear on the test, the bias that NCLB places on non-English speaking students, the unrealistic assumptions and achievements that NCLB will be able to accomplish, the detrimental sanctions and actions that are imposed upon schools. [4]

One of the criticisms towards NCLB is in regards to the unrealistic assumptions compared to what NCLB will be able to accomplish. NCLB makes quite a few unrealistic assumptions because it assumes that all students the perfect student because it believes that all students are able to learn in the same way, that they have no type of handicap, and that they have ideal lives outside of school. The belief that all students learn the same way is unfounded and unrealistic.

An additional issue that is brought up about NCLB is what actually happens to schools that to not perform to the standards set by NCLB. According to the act, schools that fail these expectations are put under sanctions. Some of these placed sanctions are positives; one is that a plan is developed to help improve the schools. The development of the plans involves the help of parents, teachers, school administrators and the Department of Education. This sanction is a positive one that helps improve schools that fail. [16]

Unfortunately, most of the sanctions that NCLB places on failing schools are detrimental in improving those schools. Some of the examples that make these sanctions detrimental are what it actually does to the schools. For example under NCLB, “school staff relevant to the failure” may be fired from the given school or the schools could possibly be put under new management in an attempt to help the school get the school back on track. In addition, there could be more drastic actions that could result. If the change in management does not help improve the school, then that school be ultimately closed, and could later be reopened with a new management team. [16]

Instead of just giving school detrimental consequences for failing the NCLB guidelines, I would make provide help to that school. One suggestion is to look at a neighboring school district and do a comparison between them. I would try to get cooperation between the schools from the school administrators down to the teachers. For administrators perspective I would try to see were and how resources are being used and distributed. For the teachers, i want to see if what techniques they are using and any additional things that they bring into the schoolroom that helps students to learn.

The additional assumption that no student has some sort of handicap is also incorrect. A handicap does not simply imply a physical limitation; it could be that a student is handicapped because he does not know proper English that is required of him or it could be simply that he was never properly education to the required level in the first place.

By 2014, the NCLB’s goal is that 100% of students will be proficient in regards to math and sciences. This assumption at attaining 100% proficiency is just unrealistic because like the previously stated assumptions that it makes towards students and many other factors are far from being realistic. If ECLB was changed to asking a goal of 80% proficiency instead of 100%, it is still being overly optimistic. Even the top performing countries that participate in PISA are unable to even come close in attaining 100% proficiency. [12]

The primary reason as to why this assumption is unrealistic deals with the actual definition of what proficiency is. For example, there is no real universal definition of what proficiency is because it is something that can vary in various degrees from person to person and state to state. As a result, comparisons cannot be made between people and states until proficiency is properly defined and is accepted among the states.

There are several alternatives that can be use instead of continuing on relying on an Act that has for the most part failed. Why do we not look at a few of the top educated countries? They must be doing something right in order for them to be continuously rated as being among the top educated countries. We should look into what and how these countries go about educating their children. This is very important step for us to do if we ever want to get education back on track.

After seeing what other countries do to teach their children, it is time to compare what they do and what the United States does. One of the things that can be used to compare is the amount of class time that is used towards teachings the drills and concepts about the subjects that are taught to children. In Germany, 22% of the time is used in drilling and the remaining 78% is used in teaching the concept that supports the subject. Japan does it very similar in which they spend 17% of time drilling students and uses the other 83% to teach concepts. However, the US does the opposite; it spends 78% in just drilling students and a mere 22% in teaching the concepts that support the subjects. [15]

Another comparison that can be made is the using the amount of hours that are used for teaching per year within the public schools. In 1994, the countries of Denmark, Germany, and Sweden were some of the countries that used considerably less teaching hours than in the US. [15] These three countries were within the top 20 of the 2006 PISA, though the United States was not in the top 20.

Looking at it from a mathematical standpoint, if using less teaching hours gets your country into the top 20 within twelve or so years, then a country that uses considerable more teaching hours should rank much higher than those who teach less. However this did not happen as one can see from the PISA results, there is something wrong with the way that the United States teaches is children.

Former Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor has another potential alternative that could help NCLB. With the help from Georgetown University Law Center and Arizona State University, she has been able to make an interactive online civics curriculum, named Our Courts, for students between the grades of seventh to ninth grades. The reason that this was needed is because NCLF only places importance on math and science towards students but at the same times it forgets that other important subjects like civics is still needed. According to O’Connor, more than half of the states no longer require the teaching of civics be a graduation requirement for high school seniors. [14] It appears that O’Connor seems to understand that NCLB has some issues and with her online curriculum is trying to make improve the areas that NCLB does not focus on.

From the teacher’s viewpoint, in most if not all cases, NCLB causes more problems than it solves. NCLB makes the jobs of teachers that much more difficult, its increases that amount of stress that teachers are under and it also increases the degree of frustration among them. The main reason that NCLB causes these undue burdens to teachers is because it seems as thou it assumes that all students are perfect and have no type handicap.

However that is not the case at all, there are students that have special needs, it could just be that they may have had a bad year or simply put, they do not have the appropriate level of education that they should have for their given grade level. [6] It appears as thou the lawmakers behind NCLB did not get any input from teachers when they designed the act. If I was the one of the people involved in the design, I would have definitely asked for input from at least a handful of teachers.

One of the issues with NCLB is that it does not differentiate between schools with many students with students with special needs and with those do not have special need students. With this inappropriate comparison, NCLB is making schools look at these students as an overall burden because these students will lower that schools academic performance overall for any given year. An additional negative effect of this is that schools tend to worry mostly about the lowest performing students and do not any real incentives to help increase the levels of students who have high academic performance. [6]

No Child Left Behind is an act that has for the most part seemed to have failed but it does a few things well. After looking at how other countries teach their children, we should take the good parts of their education strategy and combine them with the good parts of the NCLB and try to form a new and improved act. With this we may be able to improve the educational system within the United States.

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