There are many arguments and statistics that support NCLB. Some of these arguments are test scores have improved, increased accountability, improved local standards, and the overall quality of education has improved. However how strong are these statements? Supporters say that the results speak for themselves and simply that NCLB was needed for our education system. Was it really needed?
We have had standard based teaching for many years before NCLB. What this act has done is simply punish those who don’t reach the standards in an attempt to hold them accountable. This causes teachers and schools to focus on achieving the standards, they are teaching the test, unfortunately many items are tossed by the waist side. The subjects most affected are fine arts, physical education, vocational, and advanced courses. There is currently uproar about how our country is becoming obese, losing PE will not help. There are some students who don’t plan on going to college that need the vocational courses to help them get a job after high school. Also NCLB has been referred to no child gets ahead, because the advanced students are neglected due to the focus on the children in danger of not reaching the standards.
The people most knowledgeable about the ins and outs of this act are the ones that deal with it every day, teachers. Most teachers will agree that NCLB has not been affective and has not improved the overall quality of education. Our education system needs structure, and schools as well as instructors need to be held accountable; however, NCLB is not the answer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Roger,
ReplyDeleteThank you for breeching the subject of No Child Left Behind! This act that got passed through congress, thanks to our ex-prsident George W. Bush, and has done nothing for the school system. While I was researching my debate I found numerous articles about how with this act implimented that a number of kids are graduating high school with sixth to seventh grade reading levels. When the parents asked the schools about this the schools response was that they are passing all of their standardized tests and they were proficent enough. This really upsets me! It is like you said, the schools are only teaching the test in order for it to be passed by a percentage of the students so the schools can recieve their funding. I guess it does not matter that our children are graduating high school with inefficent reading skills. Some thing needs to be done. I think that the schools should get the funding any ways and the government needs to stay out of it. Let the schools higher the teachers that want to teach and let them weed out the kids that don't want to go to school.
Keith Lopez
On top of what both Roger and Keith have said many teachers are unable to teach or emphasize topics that they find necessary to focus on. I mean some teachers wish to elaborate or assign a project because they find that the lesson is inadequate to completely understand but they can’t because there is a certain curriculum to abide by. I know I have experienced this, often times teachers will simply say "oh, we are going to skip chapter 8 (for example) because it won't be on your, (whatever test you are required to take at the end of the class)". This I believe has also hurt our education staff in many schools across our nation as teachers it seems are hardly required to do their own preparing and studying of what needs to be taught because most schools have a standard curriculum that each teacher must teach from.
ReplyDelete