Leave No Child Behind, Reading First - Essay Example

Basic Instinct: Surpass Language Literacy Leave No Child Behind, Reading First (NCLB ACT) Shirley Bongbong English Section A Prof. Academia-Research ABSTRACT In recent years, a lot of American children especially those belonging in the low income family have been constantly hammered with the problem of funding and choices to education. Grants have emerged in the process but still English language literacy for non-English speakers has persisting articulation and communication problem. President George Bush and Senator Edward Kennedy took a bipartisan act to look into national budget and school performance by grade level testing. Reports identify lack of teaching facilities upgrade and teaching methodology update. Reading First as part of the No Child Left Behind Act expanded its territorial rights and implementations in form of partnerships to other English language literacy programs with English Language Learners or ELL. It aims to formulate methods and tools from research to complement the course and monitor effectiveness of the program through grade level testing. Basic Instinct: Surpass Language Literacy Leave No Child Behind, Reading First (NCLB Act) A. The Inspiration President Bush commitment that all American children will receive a high quality education paved way to the promulgation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 enacting Bipartisan education reform as the cornerstone of his administration. The NCLB Act was signed by President George Bush on January 8, 2002. (US Dept. of Educ., Overview, 2005) Literally mapping a state of difference with regards to budget implementation and measure of education control and monitoring success gives America an edge to measure education progress by creatively emphasizing school competitiveness and reports on performance system. B. The Creation The No Child Left Behind Act increases the accountability of the schools, school districts and the States to the Capital. It aims to give parents a better option to allow them to choose which public school their children will attend. It increased its focus to reading and act on the perspective of standard based education reform. It was a bipartisan reform act of Senator Edward Kennedy and President George Bush. In the 107th congress in March 2001, the Act began as House Resolution 1. It passed the House of Representatives on December 13, 2001 and the Senate on December 18, 2001. (Wikipedia Foundation, 2006) C. Provisions and Features of NCLB Act To complement the all American aim of competing global market technology and labor, President Bush prepared the nation a firm base to start future production of American geniuses. This entirely theorize the computation of the life span of a person to determine age towards starting state responsibility through reading comprehension as early as the age level of the third grade. Increasing the literacy of the people especially the children makes the Capital manage a very intelligent and highly interactive state voter that can navigate economics and politics globally. This is a wise vision of a nation transformation to 100% literacy and a fore runner in world class standard education programs. Applauding the NCLB Act, it could mean a fore runner in almost everything, science, industry, politics, technology and economics. 1. Funding The government has been spending a lot on this education reform act to all of the states to improve education and the upgrade schools standards and efficiency. In relation thereof, every parent has the right to choose which public school they want to send their child in case the school by which their child is presently studying does not qualify or satisfy their choices. As an extension, in case the proximity of the school is a little farther from the current school location the parents reserve the right to ask for transportation allowance from the school districts from which they belong for this matter. Everything is being taken cared of. There absolutely is no reason for the school or the school district neither the state nor the parents be able to fail in its adaptation. This is all for the sake of the children and parents striving hard economically to gain education within an American state jurisdiction. Teachers are also provided funds to make them better mentors. 2. Flexibility of Grants Resources Parents do have the option and the perfect choices from a list of grants and scholarships provided by the school district for their child to gain with regards to continuing studies and education. It is imperative that corresponding school district shall inform and provide this list so parents won't be placed in a difficult situation finding financial aid for the tuition and relative expenditures of their children. The law was provided especially for those families whose children are being left behind due to financial instability. Every child has the absolute right and means to gain access to education. That was what this Act is all about, access and right. 3. Schools Accountability For non fulfillment and non compliance to the implementation of school standardization, the schools and the school districts shares the sole responsibility of the failure or the success towards educating children. They are real responsible to the state to ensure that their respective students are actually learning in reality and in order and not just pure set up imagery reports. They themselves send parents their own report cards so the parents can assess and gage performance and might as well give feedback on performance indicators that could help improve their school system. This will defy other schools that tend not to show their works at school by not responding to state test. This is honest performance information to ensure that schools are being standardized and monitored by both state and parents. A voice by the state and by the people is being set up to implement change in their own locality that could very well affect the other states as well of related performance. 4. Measuring student performance States are mandated that annual test shall be given to grades 3-8 and once in high school in order to monitor performance of the students as an absolute indicator to school standards and educational methods used. (U.S. Dept. of Educ., OELA, 2007). The test shall form part of a gage to assess whether the child needs extra help also. If the child is declared by the State to be of slow performance, he is entitled to free tutorial lessons for at least two years. Teaching methods shall be based on proven research without experimenting on students. 5. Reading First of NCLB Act Reading First is a part of NCLB Act that mandates children to learn how to read at most in their third grade level. It supports scientific research for best educational programs to facilitate the learning process. It also provides funding to States and school districts for high quality reading programs. In relation, Title I aims to elevate financial difficulties of parents educating their children through provision of additional funds to school districts based on the number of low income families living or belonging within their jurisdiction. D. Defining the Role of No Child Left Behind Act to English Language Learners (ELL) Title III of the NCLB administered by OELA (Office of the English Language Acquisition) administers grant programs, policies for implementation and coordination of different states with the aim to serve, support and help children with limited English proficiency. It targets the immigrant children whose primary language is not English to compete well with other students and be able to meet the same academic content and standards available to all children all over the states. NCLB also has a LEP (Limited English Proficient) partnership that aims to assess contents in both reading and math. It provides technical assistance and raw models to manage methodologies used in implementing and teaching reading and math. "The Department is partnering with the National Council of LaRaza, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Council of Chief State School Officers, Comprehensive Center on Assessment and Accountability and the National Center on English Language Acquisition to support the LEP Partnership. All States are invited to be a part of the LEP Partnership." (U.S. Department of Educ., LEP partnership, 2006). They practically issue the guidelines that will help the children and students acquire English language proficiency and programs for education of English Language Learners. These partnerships aim to know and measure the progress of LEP students with regards to the call to be fluent in English: invites participation and enhance English language skills. This serves to identify practices and accommodations that will best serve the students in their classroom studies. A comprehensive literacy research entails the participation of parents to read with their child. To do this, books were made simpler so they can read together their lessons everyday. Tools like an online diagnostic test were given to children to be able to determine factors that could strengthen instructional methods and amends in many ways the elementary and secondary education programs. ELL (English Language Learners) in many ways helps to develop and support the necessary understanding and confidence a child needs to learn the English language. It shall serve to validate the child's first language and find ways to ease the process and variations involve to learning a new language. However children vary in their adaptation and of their ability to communicate and understand the words they speak. For a majority of the ELL students oral language comes first. Note that oral tutorial most likely will involve a one-to-one tutorial and will definitely slice a large part of the budget of NCLB to promote English language articulation strategy. It is very important that oral language precedes reading and writing. The presentation of the oral instructional methods shall boost the confidence of the children to try to speak bilingually first. By the use of simplified words and gestures, a child may be able to perceive what the tutor is trying to convey. Reading First, a part of NCLB Act, has a direct relation to ELL in the sense that it all aims to promote the use of English language as a medium of communication among the citizens of the United States. It aims to develop oneness and unity through their efforts to teach children at their most early developmental age to learn how to read. It funded and provided proper exposure and foundation at the child's early childhood. It serves to provide the tools necessary for the facilitation of the language and cognitive reading skills. It uses science and common sense masked with leadership to ensure that No Child is Left Behind among the English Language Learners. "English Language Learner provisions are included under Title I and Title III of NCLB. Title I outlines the state standards, assessment, annual yearly progress, and other accountability requirements for ELL students. Title III provides funding to state and local education agencies who are obligated by NCLB to increase the English proficiency and core academic content knowledge of Limited English Proficient students (another term is ELL-English Language Learners, although NCLB uses the term "LEP" for Limited English Proficiency). Under this title, local school districts decide on the method of instruction to be used to teach ELL students English, but requires that instructional programs to be scientifically proven to be effective." (NCPIE, 2007). Title III funds shall be used for the scientifically proven research instructional programs for the ELL students. This includes outreach to parents of ELL students' advice for active participation. Title III funds obligates school districts to manipulate improvement to ELL students in terms of their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills by various educational tools necessary for their studies. NCLB thereby mandates ELL to ensure that ELL students develop English language proficiency of the same content and standards like any American children received. Reading assessment tests shall be in English unless it will be proven that the student will achieve higher results using the native language. Test scores reports of the ELL students shall form part as the school districts result of all the ELL students. This shall involve parents in the Title III programs decision making and activities of the state. Parents shall therefore be informed why their children are to place under ELL specialized language instruction program. NCLB aims ELL to focus on reading as obvious as it has been redundantly stated, to track ELL performance to be able to identify aspects and angles of improvement and the marked solution thereof. A modification of the language test questions to cater linguistic complexity and language inadequacy. NCLB is helping to create a more thorough definition of ELL which is somehow vague in reality by the consideration of their languages and cultural differences. ELLs are the sole focus of the Title III of NCLB who are in the age of 3-21 years old. (Abedi, J. & Dietel, R., 2004) References: Abedi, J. & Dietel, R. (2004). Challenges in the No Child Left Behind Act for English Language Learners. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST)/UCLA. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from CRESST Policy Brief 7 database. National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education. (2007). Retrieved January 27, 2007. NCLB Action Briefs, Programs of English Language Learners. Web Site: http://www.ncpie.org/nclbaction/english_language_learners.html. U. S. Department of Education. (Jan. 23, 2007). Retrieved January 25, 2007. OELA Office of English Language Acquisition Home Page. Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html. U.S. Department of Education. (Sept. 19, 2005). Retrieved January 26, 2007. Overview: Facts and Terms Every Parent Should Know About NCLB. Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/parents/ Parentfacts.html. U.S. Department of Education. (Nov. 29, 2006). Retrieved January 25, 2007. Offices LEP Partnership. Web Site: http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/ Lep-partnership/index.html. Wikipedia Foundation Inc. (Dec. 2006). Retrieved January 26, 2007. No Child Left Behind Act. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Web Site: http:// En.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Beind_Act. 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