All Children Left Behind

In 1973, education was defined in a Merriam-Webster dictionary as: the action or process of educating or being educated; the knowledge and development resulting from an education. In 2005 education is defined as: the completion of standards and the passing of standardized tests which the government is enforcing after the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). However, it is unreasonable to judge students on memorized facts which are used to take a test once a year. Instead, there should be more emphasis on things that students will be able to benefit from such as critical thinking.

The NCLB was passed by congress in 2002, with every intention of giving each student a fair chance at a good education. However it hasn’t lived up to its expectations. The NCLB is supposed to help educate students by setting new standards for teachers, students, and schools, and giving more funding to help public schools meet these new standards. By the 2006 school year all teachers must be “highly qualified” in the subject in which they teach. This means they must have a degree or extra training in

Each year, the schools need to increase the number of students who are meeting the determined standards and passing the standardized tests. By 2017, all students must master the states standards and pass all required standardized tests.

If a school fails to pass the tests, they must notify their parents and the school will be sanctioned. To meet the curriculum changes, the school will be given extra funding and staff changes. After a school is sanctioned, it has two years to improve to meet the standards. If a school fails after two years, parents have the choice to enroll their child into a different school, tuition free. Low-income parents can also choose to send their child to another school if their present school is considered dangerous and programs to prevent violence or the illegal use of drugs and alcohol has failed.

By having the NCLB each state must determine their own set of standards which will help students and parents identify what is expected of each student and what skills they will need to acquire to meet the challenges they will face in the future. All students are expected to have the same challenging curriculum and teachings. By the end of the school year, each student will be required to take a standardized test which was prepared by the state. These tests will asses if the student has met the state’s standards.

People in support of the NCLB feel that all students are being treated equally because everyone is able to receive a good education no mater what race, income, or gender of the student. Although the NCLB was created with good intentions, there are many downfalls. I will be concentrating on the three most commonly talked about downfalls. First, there is insufficient funding. Within the four

dollars (Committee on Education and the Workforce). Without this money, schools can’t be improved. Funds are needed to create a curriculum to help teachers implement the standards, to help students pass their standardized tests, and to create a better learning environment for students and teachers.

The Second downfall to the NCLB is that parents aren’t held accountable for their child. Schools have