The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 - Coursework Example

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 Over the last decade, the government of United States has been finding ways of ensuring that every child and the achievement of every student is protected from any abuse. The government of the United States realized that a greater part of children performance is significantly affected by inadequate or no accountability. To ensure fairness in elementary schools as well as in colleges, the federal government passed an act called The No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The idiom that greeted the enactment of the act was corresponding with the sweep of the new laws that are personified in its name and its projected effect on the educational system of the Americans. The No Child Left Behind (NCLD) was one of the most effective adjustments of federal education act since the original passage of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).The No Child Left Behind Act required that highly trained teachers should teach all students, that all students be judged on proficiencies on those standards within a duration of twelve years, and that all states devise rigorous, coherent as well as challenging academic standards. The act also required schools that are failing to make progress to be subject to various corrective actions. Ever since the World War I, psychological assessment has become widespread in that it likely that just about every individual in the United States has been affected by psychological results in one way or another. Psychological assessments have become the means by which significant decisions relating to people’s lives are made. Psychological assessments are carried out in hospitals, industries, mental health clinics, industries, militaries, government agencies such as FBI, CIA among others. The psychological assessment does not discriminate against those who take them; rather the results from the assessment have been used to serve as a mechanism of exclusion (American Psychological Association, 2002). An exclusion mechanism is designed to institutionalize, track, segregate or deny access to preferred goals. It is the unfounded, negative implications for psychological assessment that have induced legal apprehension and its response that this paper tries to explore. Although assessment affects nearly all Americans, it is most insidious in public schools. It is anticipated that more than two hundred and fifty million standardized assessments tests; perpetual and motor skills, academic ability, social and emotional characteristics are seen as tools of discrimination. This paper will discuss the legal issues that are associated with psychological assessment by considering the eight million settlement cases. The background of the selected case and the legal implications of the decision In December 2013, the Antioch School agreed to pay $ 8 million to families of the eight kindergarten special education children over a teacher mistreatment case. The cases also found the administration of the school guilty of failing to report to the proper authority immediately they suspected the teacher was abusive. The case surrounds the former Elementary School teacher who pleaded not guilty in a criminal court of abusing six students among them being non-verbal autistic students. According to the parents of the victims, the special education teacher had verbally abused their students as well as pinching them. In addition, the administrators of the school failed to report to the relevant authorities after realizing the abusive nature of the special education teacher. Among the students who were involved in the abuse were non-verbal students with autism in a kindergarten class. According to the parents, the punishment that was imposed to their children was unjust and they had to sue the district and the five former and current employees regarding the abuse (Gafni & Burgarino, 2014). An analysis of the biases related to the assessments in the case The American Psychology Association suggests that an ethical violation is likely to cause substantial harm or has substantially caused harm to a person or an organization. Further actions need to be taken to report this misdoing. Such actions may include referral to the national committee or state committee, state licensing board, professional ethics or any appropriate institutional authorities. This standard is only applicable when the intervention does not violate the confidentiality rights or in a situation when the psychologists have been preserved to assess the work of other psychologists whose professional demeanor is in question. In the case of Antioch School District, the administration failed to implement the code of ethics that is implemented to protect the children from abuse without any justified reason. The school administration was neither protecting the confidentiality right nor was it being bound by a psychologist who has been preserved to assess the work of another psychologist whose demeanor in question. Regardless of the clear warning signs of the dangers of wrapping the issue, the administrators kept the issue wrapped. According to the district document, it was quite evident that the knowledge of the special needs teacher behaviors was widespread among the school employees. Additionally, the document also indicated that the school investigation regarding teacher Theresa Allen Caulboy sloped up after Contra Costa Times newspaper reported a similar abuse regarding Bentwood where the convicted abuser was allowed to continue teaching the special need students Ms. Allen –Caulboy who began teaching in August 2011 was accused of yelling at non-verbal student at close range, using the back of her hand to hit the student in the mouth and pinching the seven-year-old autistic nipple to make him follow instructions. Additionally, the special needs teacher was also accused of using insulting terms such as retard, picking a child’s nose and forcing them to eat the nose dirt and driving her knee into a child’s back as she restricted him on the ground. The ethical implications for diverse populations in relationship to the case School assessment creates severe consequences for individuals and the school system. Greater parts of these implications are intended while others are not. Ethics requires educators as well as other individuals to consider all intended effects and non-intended consequences equal. Ms. Allen –Caulboy implication can be considered to be intended. Although the primary goal underlying the assessment is to increase students’ achievements by reducing any fear or factor that may reduce their performance, there are various ethical implications for the diverse populations in relationship to the case of Ms. Allen –Caulboy. Ms. Allen –Caulboy abuse has caused improvement in the instructional stakeholders on the various things that stakeholders feel students are required to learn. Additionally, Antioch School was able to increase the instructional efficiency and more importantly resource allocation to improve the performance of students. The role of norming in creating bias Psychological bias can be referred to as a tendency of making decisions or taking action in an illogical manner. There are various forms of bias depending on the circumstances including, confirmation bias, anchoring bias, overconfidence bias, Gambler’s Fallacy among others. Presently, conflict over bias is primarily motivated by public concern. Irrespective of the physical ability every child has an immense potential to be successful. The great effort that is devoted to raising and teaching children makes the government agencies as well as parents protective of the children. Sometimes children with disabilities are left open to potential abuse. Additionally, those accused of them do not understand the variance between behavior as communication and bad behavior. In most cases, behavior as communication is a term that is used to refer to a child’s effort to communicate their desires, dislikes to others , but they cannot do so because of various deficiencies including no or limited speech . According to the justification that was put across by the teacher, she was trying to correct the behaviors of the students. Sometimes it is very challenging when an individual cannot express their thoughts in a way that others can readily comprehend. It is even more for a parent to understand that their child cannot communicate their likes, fears, dislikes and pain among others (American Psychological Association, 2002). It is imperative that parents and the management of various schools recognize that IDEA provides safety for these children. If the behaviors of the child are getting on their educational way, certain steps may be taken to ensure Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Conclusion To sum up, The No Child Left Behind (NCLD) was one of the most effective adjustments of federal education act since the original passage of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).The No Child Left Behind required that highly trained teachers should teach all students, that all students be judged on proficiencies on those standards within a duration of twelve years, and that all states devise rigorous, coherent as well as challenging academic standards. Additionally, the psychological assessment does not discriminate those against those who take them; rather the results from the assessment have been used to serve as a mechanism of exclusion. References American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. New York: American Psychological Association. Gafni, M., & Burgarino, P. (2014). Antioch school district settles the student abuse case for $8 million. 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