Nclb

NCLB

May 12, 2012

The No Child Left behind Act also known as NCLB has been the subject of many heated debates among teachers, parents and politicians. Though nobody is really against the NCLB standards they are unsure if NCLB actually helps to accomplish goals or impedes from completing goals.

With any law or act that is created there will be pros and cons. The pros of this act are that standards are put in place for teacher qualification and they are assessed annually. The results of the assessment are then reported to the parents. The NCLB act requires school improvement as well as the utilization of various research methods. According to studies significant improvement has been shown in student achievement and improved performance in schools that make an effort to utilize the No Child Left behind Act. Reading, writing and math are the subjects that are emphasized in the act.

The cons of this act are even though the NCLB act sounds like it would be good, there are many cons to it as well. Unfortunately this act rewards teaching to the test as opposed to teaching with the goal of learning. Many argue that because states set their own goals, and perform their own assessments it is possible that states may make the tests easier and I feel that it seems as if students are taught skills and knowledge that is limited to scoring high scores on specific tests. For this reason it has been an issue recruiting qualified teachers for special education, and in subjects such as science, and math for schools in the city as well as schools in rural areas.

I am “on the fence” about the No Child Left behind Act. I understand what is being said about those who oppose this act. I have children and it is disturbing to think that tests are made easier so that the teachers look better when it comes to the assessments. I am however pleased that the studies show that significant improvement has been made in schools that implement this act....