Today marks the sixth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act that was signed into legislation in 2002 by President George W. Bush. The President and Secretary of Education Margeret Spellings made a stop at a public school in Chicago on Monday to praise NCLB and ask that it be reauthorized by Congress in 2008.
As an educator, I believe in the two main principles of NCLB – higher standards and accountability. However, NCLB has numerous flaws and is usually more about political sound bites and campaign slogans than raising student achievement. In reality, NCLB is about high stakes testing and bubble sheets.
As the Primary season begins to take shape in America, I ask that you look at each candidate’s “Education Plan” and how it might impact education at the local level. As always, I would be very interested in your thoughts and opinions on NCLB and its overall impact in your classrooms.
Gregory,
I agree, standards and accountability are both excellent pieces within this legislation but… And your view that it is about sound bites is dead on.
I have a couple of posts that may be of interest to you or your readers regarding NCLB and the need to reauthorize;
http://www.openeducation.net/2007/07/18/researchers-assert-no-child-left-behind-act-is-fundamentally-flawed/
and
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/01/07/for-profit-devry-regains-edge-and-provides-some-lessons-for-public-education/
Thanks.
Tom Hanson
Editor
OPenEducation.net
I agree that the NCLB has numerous flaws. You are also probably correct about the “political sound bites and campaign slogans”. As a parent I realize that education does not only occur in a school setting, but also at home. Parents need to be involved no only in the sport activities of their child, but also the academic activities.
Not every child will do well on the standard test that are given. Some children do not test well, and others (unfortunately) are not able to comprehend the material.
My thought and opinion:
The teachers in this community seem to strive to help all students in their classes achieve the best education possible. The basic believe of the NCLB sounds good. But in reality, alot of what we hear is just “good politics”.