The No Child Left Behind Act

No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act

Introduction

The No Child Left Behind Act is a United States Federal Law that reauthorizes an amount of federal programs that seek to progress the performance of America's primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of responsibility for states, as well as providing parents more flexibility in selecting which schools their children will attend. Furthermore it promotes an amplified focus on reading and re-permits the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965(ESEA). This act implements education transformation. Many parents of school age children question this program. Testing scores have not improved from this program and withholding money from the schools will only do more harm than good.

Many children in the United States experience reading failure. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on reading in 2003, thirty-seven percent of fourth graders are reading below the Basic Proficiency level. This is the same level of failure that was reported in 1992 (Making NCLB work) Under this plan, all public schools students must be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014. Only students in second grade and beyond are required to test. In grades three through eight and once during high school, reading and math development will be calculated yearly. Testing in science will also be conducted by the end of the 2007-2008 school year. By the end of the 2005-2006 school year, teachers will also be required to be "highly qualified" (Wikipedia) According to this program, a highly qualified teacher is defined as an individual who has fulfilled the states' qualifications and licensure requirements. New teachers entering this field are required to acquire at least a bachelor's degree. If they will be teaching at an elementary school, they must pass a test known as the California Subject Examination for Teachers (CSET) and the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST). These tests replicate the subject matter understanding required to teach in California and demonstrates proficiency in basic reading and writing, mathematics and English. Teachers that are not new must pass a test in which state they teach in that demonstrates their subject understanding and teaching abilities.

Discussion

Each state has a curriculum structure. Each one summarizes the course of study by local school districts. This is how they develop programs directing state and local textbook adoption processes. Most states' average curriculum consists of English Language Arts, Mathematics, History/Social Science, and Science. Many states have no adopted standards in the remaining vicinities of curriculum such as foreign language, Physical Education and health.

Each year schools, school districts, and the state must make adequate yearly progress (AYP). For Unified school districts K-12, 23.0% of their students must score proficient or above in ELA and 23.7% must do so in math. By the 2007-2008 school year, 34.0% must score proficient or above in ELA and 34.6% in math. Scores must improve annually with the same goal of 100% proficient or above by the 2013-2014 school ...