Nicolae Borota
Curriculum Evaluation
Dr. Jay Dugan
June 30, 2009
NCLB stands for the No Child Left Behind Act. It is a re-authoring of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It was signed into law by President George Bush on January 8th, 2002. It basic function was to spell out funding and requirements for K-12 education.
There are several components of the NCLB legislation. One is a testing requirement. It requires that all students in grades 3 through 8 be assessed annually, in reading and mathematics. Science also has to be tested, but to a lesser degree. Students have to be tested within each of three grade bands: 3 to 5; 6 to 9; and 10 – 12. Testing has to be the same for all students and must be aligned to state standards and be valid, reliable, and consistent. A test of English Proficiency for all English Language Learners must also be given and schools must participate in the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). For Special Education students, alternative assessments may be given, but performance has to be measured against the state’s grade level standards. There is no out-of-grade level testing permitted.
The second aspect of the NCLB is the accountability measure. States have to have a level of performance that schools must meet in order to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress. Schools, districts, and state are deemed to have made AYP if performance is greater than the state uniform bar for any particular year. The state uniform bar was based on the point where schools representing 80% of the state’s students are performing above that level as the starting point. The goal is to get 100% proficient in the year 2014. Schools that do not meet AYP for two consecutive years are identified as needing improvement. NCLB law divides students into ten groups that must make Adequate Yearly Progress(AYP).
The student groups are:
1) The school as a whole (all students);
2) White;
3) Black;
4) Hispanic;
5) Native American;
6) Asian;
7) Multi-racial;
8) Economically disadvantaged students (students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch);
9) Limited English proficient students; and
10) Students with disabilities.
Each student is represented in at least two groups – the school as a whole and his/her racial group. Each student group must have at least 40 students across the tested grades to be included in AYP calculations at the school level. Most schools have several of the groups, but not all 10. Also, a student must attend a school 140 days by the first day of spring testing to be included in AYP calculations.
In exchange for greater accountability, the NCLB regulations will provide states with far-reaching flexibility and control over how they use federal funds. Schools will be encouraged to use funds for teacher retention, professional development, and technology training that best suit their needs without having to obtain separate federal approval.
The proponents of NCLB state that the primary positives of the No Child Left Behind Act include:
- Accountability standards are set.
They are measured annually by each state to foster educational growth and achievement. All results are also annually reported to parents.
- Qualification standards for teachers.
Standards are set for teacher qualifications.
- Links state academic content with student educational outcomes.
It requires school improvement be implemented using "scientific-based research" methods in the classroom, parent programs, and teacher development courses.
- Emphasizes the Core areas.
Reading, Writing and Mathematics are stressed, with Science coming up as well.
- Attempts to close the achievement gap.
It measures educational status and growth by ethnicity, and helps to close the achievement gap between white and minority students.
- Helps students who are often over-looked.
It requires schools to focus on providing quality education to students who are often under-served, including children with disabilities, from low-income families, non-English speakers, as well as African-Americans and Latinos.
- Parents given access to data.
Parents are provided annually with a detailed report of student achievement, and explanations are provided of achievement levels.
There are opponents to the NCLB act, and they state the following:
· Teaching to the Test
Teachers and parents charge that NCLB encourages, and rewards, teaching children to score well on the test, rather than teaching with a primary goal of learning. As a result, teachers are pressured to teach a narrow set of test-taking skills and a test-limited range of knowledge.
NCLB ignores many vital subjects, including science, history and foreign languages.
· Problems with NCLB Standardized Tests
Since states set their own standards and write their own standardized NCLB tests, states can compensate for inadequate student performance by setting very low standards and making tests unusually easy.
Many contend that testing requirements for disabled and limited-English proficient students are unfair and unworkable.
Critics allege that standardized tests contain cultural biases, and that educational quality can't necessarily be evaluated by objective testing.
· Teacher Qualification Standards
NCLB sets very high teacher qualifications by requiring new teachers to possess one (or often more) college degrees in specific subjects and to pass a battery of proficiency tests. Existing teachers must also pass proficiency tests.
These new requirements have caused major problems in obtaining qualified teachers in subjects (special education, science, math) and areas (rural, inner cities) where schools districts already have teacher shortages.
Teachers especially object to the Bush 2007 proposal to allow districts to circumvent teacher contracts to transfer teachers to failing and poorly-performing schools.
· Failure to Address Reasons for Lack of Achievement
At its core, NCLB faults schools and curriculum for student failure, but critics claim that other factors are also to blame, including: class size, old and damaged school buildings, hunger and homelessness, and lack of health care.
References
http://www.dieringer.wednet.edu/district/about/nclbfactsheet.html
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/nclb/abcayp/facts/aypfactsheet.pdf
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