Erica Lee
Ashford University
EDU 623 Introduction to Teaching & Learning
The No Child left behind law that was established on January 8, 2002, by George Bush. The law set forth that there would be no agreements with a public school system that educates a portion of its students. Critics of basing judgments related to school improvement on averages have been especially concerned that many proposed changes may not well serve young people from racial, language, and cultural minorities. (Armstrong) Schools that underperform are held accountable, and provide their students with free tutoring and or school transfers to a better performing public school. In other words, children’s educational needs are their primary concern. To achieve these goals, NCLB works according to four common-sense principles: holding schools accountable for results, giving states and districts flexibility in how they spend federal money, using scientific research to guide classroom practice, and involving parents by giving them information and choices about their children’s education. (No Child Left Behind, 2005-2013)(Florida Department of Education. In No Child Left Behind, n.d.) Schools whose students that don't demonstrate mastery on standardized tests may face certain penalties, and if they don't improve, parents may transfer their students to other schools. The NCLB law affects many people such as teachers, administrators and parents because there are children that don’t put the maximum effort into their school work, they maintain poor test scores therefore this has negative impact on the teacher. Furthermore there are parents who agree with NCLB it provides parents with some assurance that teachers will be held accountable for their performances.
I am a parent of a child who is affected by NCLB and my feelings towards this law are extremely negative. The reason I feel this way is because my child is now 14 years old and continuously has difficulties passing the FCAT that is given every year that measures student’s progress toward meeting the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) benchmarks. This test retains students in the 3rd grade if they score a level 1 and they can also be retained twice in the 3rd grade. Therefore after being retained after the 2nd time, students are then promoted to the next grade. This is a disadvantage to the child who has problems with comprehension. There are many students that are being promoted to the next grade level and they are having problems in different subjects such as reading, math and science.
The current status of the NCLB law as of Thursday February 07, 2013, 10 States Receive Waivers from Education Law's Sweeping Requirements. The states, which had to commit to their own federally approved plans, will now be free to judge students with methods other than test scores. Additionally they will be able to factor in subjects beyond reading and math. The first 10 states to be declared free from the education law are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it is New Mexico, and they are working with the administration to get approval. Twenty-eight other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signaled that they too plan to flee the law in favor of their own plans. The government's action on Thursday was a unspoken acknowledgement that the