The Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act

The NCLB act has an impact on the way we teach because it makes teachers, schools, and districts accountable for every student. I am struggling with this right now. In my school we have AYP meetings after every grading period and it really makes you look at the students’ progress to see if they are making the bench marks. I have a least 5 students that are not and will probably not meet the reading and writing bench marks for the end of first grade. The reason for this is because they are second language learners but I know that I need to be accountable for every child in my classroom, but not every child is the same and there are so many outside reasons why kids do not succeed in school, why are we lumping all the scores and percentages into one to see that no child is left behind.

I agree that schools and districts should emphasize quality teaching rather than focusing primarily on credentials to make significant and long-term improvements (NCREL, 2005). Just having a credentials does not mean that the teacher will do what she needs to meet all the students needs to achieve and meet bench marks.

Parents need to be more proactive as well by helping their children at home. If parents read with the child every night that reinforces what we teach at school. I can tell whose parents are involved in their child’s education and those who aren’t.

Reference

U.S. Department of Education (2005, September 19) No Child Left Behind. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from http://www.nclb.gov

White House News Release (2005, January 12) Fact Sheet: No Child Left Behind-High Quality, High School Initiatives. Retrieved February 19, 2007, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/release/2005/01/print/2000501112-3.html

North Central Region Educational Laboratory. (2005) Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act: Teacher Quality Improves Student Achievement. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.ncrel.org/quality/qkey8/qkey8.pdf