Summary:     

No Child Left Behind At of 2001 is law that was established to improve the education of all students. For some educators NCLB has been good and others are not caring for the program and all that it asks of the teachers. As with any act of legislation, there are pros and cons that must be addressed. The bill addresses adequate yearly progress, local education agency, school improvement, and scientifically based research.

Adequate yearly progress is a measurement of the goals and the actual percentages for academic achievement. The local education agency is where the students can be placed, whether it is inclusion or resource. School improvement is making sure that the school is equipped with highly qualified professionals and is structurally sound enough for the students to learn.

            Supporters say that emphasis on test results can and will improve the achievements of the students. They agree that standards should be set for teachers to be highly qualified to teach the subject in which they are applying for. NCLB emphasizes the core subjects; reading, writing and math. NCLB also manages educational status and growth by ethnicity in order to close the achievement gap between white and minority.

            Opponents of No Child Left Behind say that has many drawbacks. The Bush Administration has been terribly under funding the states and if the states do not comply with the rules and regulations they are at risk of losing federal funding. The students are being rewarded for doing well on tests rather than being rewarded for learning. NCLB requires teachers to ignore key subjects like science, math and foreign languages. Teachers are being forced to take tests or have one or more degrees in order to teach the basic subjects.

            Although NCLB does improve the accountability of students and schools, it does not allow flexibility with teachers. It motivates students to learn rather than memorize for test. Students that start off behind will always be behind because they cannot be left behind.

My Position:  

A lot of teachers including myself are not fans of NCLB. It places entirely too much information on the fact tests are important. Teachers are made to force children to master the skills of the test rather than just teaching them array of skills that are needed to master not only schoolwork but life on the outside. NCLB really has unrealistic goals for teachers, in that they must continue to be highly qualified as well as have more than one degree. I think that the bill should not have been passed because the students are not allowed to every catch up. There are forced to move on with others students without being allowed to master specific objectives that they are behind on.