The Struggling Intellectuals - No Child Left Behind Act

THE STRUGGLING INTELLECTUALS:

"NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT"

On Wednesday January 3, 2001 the Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill that would affect our kids and our nation's schools. The name of this bill was named the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001". This bill was said to be the rejuvenation of America's educational system. As stated in the bill itself it is "An Act, to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. Because of its nationwide attention it has been since nicknamed. The No Child Left Behind Act that President Bush signed into law in 2002 was intended to reform America's educational system and promised to be the answer for the nation's educational gap. We all believed it was a winning formula. The ideas and thoughts conveyed in the law had the potential to be the perfect program for America's schools, and students. The law promised to ensure the same education for children from low-income families attending public schools that children in private and parochial schools receive. NCLB is filled with information about stressing the importance of having highly qualified teachers, encouraging and nurturing literacy in children, allowing parents to have choice in which school their child goes to, and holding schools accountable for the educational outcome of its students. The law promised adequate funding to achieve these goals.

We have all heard the good and bad rumors about this bill. "All of our kids are now on a level playing field" or "Standardized testing only show that our kids know how to take tests". Lets take a look on what makes NCLB such a great debatable topic. On one side the supporters might say:

* Best nine-year-old scoring history since 1971.

* Academic improvement in all subject categories.

* Special focus on students from low-income groups and disabilities.

* Taxpayers can access how their schools compare nationally.

* Legislation encouraged accountability in public schools to provide additional educational options.

* Grants are rewarded to students who succeed in the NCLB program.

* Funding for school technology used in classrooms as part of NCLB is administered by the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program (EETT) funding for technology used within classrooms, professional teacher training and development of online assessment interfaces.

Some experts say assessment-driven reform is needed to counter declining trends in SAT and ACT scores and the mediocre performance of U.S. students in international rankings.

Now lets review the reason why we as Americans and parents should vote this Act out of existence or give it some major modifications.

* School test scores and records are being manipulated.

* Teachers now teach to a standard instead of their teaching the class.

* Inappropriate dispossession of students who fail to meet the desired performance levels for the school to earn incentive.

* Lowered official state standards to earn incentives from improvement via standardized tests.

* Inadequate oversight in the case of special education.

* Forced, mandatory curriculum in reading, writing, and arithmetic, impairing grade advancement.

According to eHow contributor Mackenzie Wright, most supporters point to statistical data to support their claims about NCLB. On the other hand, we as a people can truly see that NCLB