What do you think of the " no child left behind" program?

Question

anyone actually have first hand experience? a teacher or student who sees the effect the the porgram?

Answer 1

I was talking with a woman who was a teacher but is quitting because of No Child Left Behind. It dictates too much of the teacher's job, there is hardly any discretion or decision making left to the teacher, who is after all a trained professional. Also the program concentrates too much on building test taking skills for students, but real education actually educates, it teaches about various subjects and students learn to think and make conclusions.

Answer 2

Its a nice theory, but practically speaking, there are reasons why, in Europe, after the ninth grade, some kids go to a trade school rather than pursue a college education. I also don't think it is fair to the high-achieving students to have to "wait around" for the slower kids to catch up. Like I said, a nice speech for a politician to make, but, at the risk of sounding harsh, I live in the real world.

Answer 3

Having worked in High School level education for 30+ years, I have seen a lot of changes in the quality of education. The no child left behind is a great idea but poorly implemented. No arrangement for anything other than a diploma, even for Special Education students who would never be able to pass an exit exam. Why not allow a Certificate of Completion for those that "finish" all the requirements but do not pass the exit exam? Why are various states, etc., wanting to "exempt" our ELL students from even taking the test but they will still receive the very same diploma that the passers of the exam receive? Why don't these ELL students and any other "special language" problem students get the same treatment as the Special Education students--no diploma but maybe a certificate of completion? Joe Blow, that regular middle of the road student, who does not pass the exit exam is summarily referred to Adult Education in my district to "finish the requirements" and then is eligible for a diploma. Not so with the ELL students, they are exempted from that also and receive their diploma at the same time as the "true" graduates.

Also, I am sorry for how this is going to sound but it has proven to be true in my 30 years working--the huge bulk of students who have this language problem and are heading for a diploma without ever passing the exit exam are illiterate immigrants from Mexico. We do not have the problem with Asian, European, African students we have had. They are eager to learn and seem to have working knowledge of the language in 1 1/2 to 2 years in school. On the other side of the coin are the Mexican students who come to us at High School age but have not been in school since the 6th grade. How do you throw a 15 to 17 year old into a high school level class who is still illiterate in their NATIVE language? Also, the level of resistance from these type of students is major. They are not eager to use their "new" language to become more proficient, rather they expect everyone else to learn their language to converse with them. The crying shame is that we have Mexican children born HERE in the United States who START SCHOOL NOT SPEAKING A WORD OF ENGLISH. When asked about this the parents almost always state that they want their children to learn their REAL language and English can wait. Ask any educator, students starting school in this condition start out 5 years behind and usually stay that way especially with the resistance to assimilating into our American society. With this situation, what we have seen here in our district is basically the "dumbing down" of our level of education which generally reflects the national decline in education standing world wide. Like I stated before, sorry about the way this sounds but reality cannot be ignored. Our "other ethnic" students are managing to learn the language and complete graduation requirements, including the exit exam and taking the test in English. Are most of you aware that "qualified" ELL students, with parent permission, are tested using a Spanish test? And not just for the exit exam, but the SAT9, STAR, etc., also.

More of the public needs to become really aware of just WHAT is going on in public education but it will be a battle to glean as the schools do not want most of this info public knowledge

Answer 4

I think it sucks. I know my two Godsons have learning disabilities and the school has chosen to pass them from grade to grade due to this no child left behind nonsense instead of retaining them in a grade. They say it is better to pass them and let them retain their dignity. I disagree. When they are shoved out into the real world, no one else is going to do that, they are just going to be looked at like uneducated idiots.

Answer 5

IT IS LIPSERVICE. That is what all of my teachers say.
The US gov. spends $388 billion annual just on public education for elementary and secondary schools. $5 billion granted by the "no child left behind" is not going to make much difference If the $388B cannot.

Answer 6

I think its a bunch of BS really. They don't care about who gets an education, and who don't..... it's all for show that way they can say they have programs out there that are available to those in need that's all.

Answer 7

i think it is a good idea
but the bad thing is that the child who is not passing will have a difficult time and has to work harder than the other kids

Answer 8

I've heard of it & i like what it promotes. Havent had first hand experience but i hope it does what its meant to!!!

Answer 9

Great in theory, but impractical to implement and very costly!