The No Child Left Behind Act - Essay Example

No Child Left Behind The No Child Left Behind Act came in force on January 8, 2002, which was an “education reform plan” containing many changes which were to be applied to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Department of Education). The act increased the role of federal government in education because it hold schools accountable for their results and by measuring the success of schools by the achievements of their students (Department of Education).The No Child Left Behind Act has been one of the most controversial and talked about subjects in the country. The Act has received much criticism from teachers and scholars since its implementation. NCLB Act was introduced by the Bush government to make sure that testing and reporting was done in schools that face cut-offs because of their lack of progress (Democracy Now). Many critics say that the Act was introduced by the Bush administration because they were unable to provide the financial support which was promised to the schools “falling more than 25 billion dollars short on what he [President Bush] initially promised” (Democracy Now). Even thought the government, at that time, stressed the need of accountability of schools it was bring said that the ct was introduced to compensate for the broken promises of the Bush Government. It has been almost ten years since the NCLB Act was implemented and it is now being said that the whole generation of NCLB students are not able to think critically or demonstrate basic college level skills. The NCLB Act is now being questioned and many college professors now argue that the whole idea was a big failure. Recent studies reveal that No Child Left Behind is in fact a failure. According to a report published in 2009, “NCLB is demonstrably unable to produce sustained and significant improvements even on a standardized test in the two subjects on which it focuses reading and math. It also fails to make a real dent in the wide gaps between whites, African Americans and Latinos” (Fair Test). Studies have shown that the NCLB requires schools to teach according to the tests and are forced to narrow down their course but even though the scores of NCLB tests have significantly improved, the National Assessment of Educational Progress has shown no progress (Fair Test). Critics also say that education should be left to the state and local government and Federal government should not try to force its influence in this area (Mefford). Another strong criticism against NCLB is that the standardized tests designed under NCLB only test specific abilities of the students such as Math and Reading, but fail to improve other skills of students, limiting them to focusing only on “specific core disciplines” (Mefford). Many also believe that NCLB Act violates cultural rights of many American Indians (Jacobs), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Mefford). The NCLB Act has no doubt been a failure not only because of the criticism that it received from teachers and law makers, but because it failed to show any improvement in the actually education. The whole concept of NCLB focuses on making sure that the children pass the standardized tests, neglecting all the other aspects of education. The NCLB Act has been an overall failure for the nation. The federal government failed to introduce an effective educational program prior to 2001. Studies reveal that American students do not receive a very high quality education as other countries provide better schooling and students from all over the world outscore student of the U.S. “by a wide margin” (Hanushek). While some believe that the federal government should no longer be involved in education and it should be left to the state and local government completely, many say the federal government can play an important role in the improvement of education in the United States. People who oppose the involvement of the federal government in education say that it is against the constitution as the federal government is not given the power to “regulate or fund elementary or secondary education” in the constitution (HSLDA). However, there is a large group of people that believes that the whole American education system needs a lot of improvement in areas such as, testing and accountability. They believe that the involvement of the federal government is therefore necessary to improve the overall performance of the system (Hanushek). The education system in American currently requires that the federal government take active role in education. The role of the federal government should be more active because education is very important for the overall progress of a nation. If it were not for the federal government the schools in America would have no special programs for children. The federal laws helped the education system in America get rid of segregated schools. Even though the No Child Left Behind program has been a failure, the federal government should take steps to improve the program and introduce remedial measures so that better results can some from the Act. The education in America is not as bad to begin with but it requires some serious efforts by the government. Critics of the present educational system in America say that the schools do not help the students fully understand the concepts that they teach and so the students lack knowledge which is why many Americans lead a superficial life (Ostrander). People also argue that American students do not perform as well as the students from other countries and are much behind. American students do not score as high as the international students which show that American schools are not teaching these students well. However, many people believe that even though the system of education in the United States is easier compared to the systems of India and China, American schools still teach the students valuable life lessons (Wadhwa). But these valuable lessons are not enough to progress. Many Indian, Chinese, and other children are keen to become engineers and mathematicians while the students in America do not show as much interest in Science and Math. In order to compete with the increasing competition in the world, it is required that American students to become interested in these subjects and improve their performance. Otherwise the economy of the country in future will not be able to keep up with the competing world. The current education system is not bad but requires a lot of improvement. The federal government should make education its priority and introduce programs to help schools increase their standards of education. It is also required at the moment to encourage the students to take more interest in schools and help them improve their academic performance. Works Cited Democracy Now. "No Child Left Behind: A Debate on the Privatization of Education." 12 March 2004. Democracy Now. 18 September 2010 . Department of Education. "No Child Left Behind." 2010. State of New Jersey Department of Education. 18 September 2010 . Fair Test. "New Data Shows Failure of No Child Left Behind." 28 April 2009. Opposing Views. 18 September 2010 . Hanushek, Eric A. "Why the federal government should be involved in school accountability." 2005. Hoover Institution Stanford University. 18 September 2010 . HSLDA. "Why Should Congress Abolish the Federal Role in Education?" 12 January 2000. HSLDA. 18 September 2010 . Jacobs, Don Trent. "How NCLB Violates the Cultural Rights of the American Indian." 2010. Teaching Virtues. 18 September 2010 . Mefford, Douglas. "Why NCLB is a Failure." 10 January 2010. EduBook. 18 September 2010 . Ostrander, Jonathan. "Why is the American Wducational System so Bad?" 30 March 2009. Associated Content. 18 September 2010 . Wadhwa, Vivek. "U.S. Schools: Not That Bad." 28 May 2008. Bloomberg Businessweek. 18 September 2010 . Read More