+ regardless of the name, what it has done is effectively forced the education system to teach to the lowest common denominator(underachieving child) rather than to teach to the middle or even highest common denominator (overachiever). This may be where the dumbing down of America saying came from.
2006-12-27 10:21:00
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answer #1
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answered by Clamdigger 6
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No child left behind is great in theory. It states that every child shall be taught to their needs and given whatever is nessesary to succeed and stay on grade educationally. Here is the problem no teacher can teach 30 children the way they learn best and challenge them the way they need to be. Also in our state the way they measure if anyone is being left behind is the TAKS test. This test is terrible. Not like the standardized national test we took in school. It is so bad it is not nationally accepted. It is inconsistant in difficulty and has answers that have 2 that could work, but it is above reproach and surrounded by security standards. If a teacher or administrator gives the test incorrectly or stores the test incorrectly or is even just accused of such, they are fired. No questions asked, no defense believed. If too large a percentage of their children do not master, they are fired. Because mastery is how the state determines funding and the higher administration doesn't want to lose that!! And again, no excuses will be heard for having learning disabled, dyslexic, or children who they got from other teachers or schools that were so far behind they couldn't possibly catch them up.
So, the teachers teach for the test. All year, everyday they teach test taking skills. Read the passage. Reread the passage underline the main idea. Circle important phrases. Read a question, reread the passage to find the answer. If you are doing addition make dots of each number and count them up. Show the work for every step. If there is a word problem underline the words that tell you whether it is addition or subtraction. Circle the numbers etc. Kids don't just learn addition and subtraction and memorize it. They don't have time they have to learn the test. So they are taught the theory of how to add and how to subtract and left on their own. They don't teach handwriting like they did when we are in school. Start here go up, slant down, etc. No Time. Just draw a letter that look like this doesn't matter how you do it. This results in more letter reversals longer and a higher number of children needing help learning to read.
By 3rd grade, the first year of real testing the pressure is on. They need every minute to teach these kids how to take the test. Their job is on the line. So, no more recess. Takes away from learning time. And then when the kids can't at age 8 sit still and stay focused for 8 hours they need medication. Seriously how many adults can do that?
Overall it has done the opposite of what it was supposed to do. It has weakened the public schools and that is sad. To me a national curriculum would be better, focusing on getting back to the basics of education with hands on learning and levels of classes so that those who are ahead because of preschool or more intellegent can be challenged and meet their potential, average children are taught together, and those who need more help and special tutoring are together in smaller classes. And beginning in kindergarten there would be a different teacher for each subject allowing those who excell in one area or another to do so and not have to be great or poor in everything to have their needs met.
Good question though. Thanks
2006-12-27 03:28:49
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answer #2
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answered by micheletmoore 4
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These are all very good answers and explain the situation quite well. I would like to add:
The inconsistencies with NCLB and state testing are mind boggling. My school is an A school under FCAT standards (Florida's state test). We fail under NCLB. Interestingly, Florida's test is patterned after the Texas test and NCLB is patterned after the Texas state standards. George W is from Texas. Florida's lame duck governor, Jeb, is George W's brother. Jeb has done more to erode education and educational funding than any other governor in the state's history (my opinion, though I can show you the data in regard to funding). Another interesting note is that Neil Bush, brother of Jeb and George W, owns a company called Ignite! that has been linked to the FCAT and Texas school programs. Apparently it is a very profitable company.
I'm not trying to paint a conspiracy here, but I do find all this very interesting. Teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers and my friends in other states tell me it's no better there.
Personally, I've given up. I'm sick of teaching to the test so now I just teach. I don't touch the FCAT practice books and I don't worry about whether it's an FCAT worthy response. In the last 2 years that I've actually taught my subject area and not FCAT my students' reading gains have increased. It makes me wonder.
2006-12-27 07:59:26
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answer #3
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answered by geekteacher1 3
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The intentions are good, but it has ended up penalizing many of the bright kids. They are being held back from learning in many aspects. Schools have also adapted to work around the program - my son's school has developed a numbering system that has replaced grades. Those numbers do not correlate to the classic A, B, C or collegiate 4.0, 3.0, etc. It has basically shifted the curve so that more kids appear to be passing. The top mark no longer means excelling or proficient, it means "working a year ahead of grade". Therefore the second mark (what most of us would think of as a B) is the number of acceptable performance, or "on track". Quite confusing to truly assess the performance of your child with these complicated evaluations.
2016-03-13 22:28:37
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Since the others have covered the question well already and we're in the middle of football season, here's a more light hearted version of NCLB (I did not write this but got this from another teacher):
No Child Left Behind: Football Version
1. Each school is expected to exhibit the same level of talent in the sport of football; moreover all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If a team does not win the championship, it shall be on probation until it has done so; coaches will be held accountable. If after two years they have not won the championship their footballs, helmets, fields and equipment will be confiscated until they DO win the championship.
2. ALL players will be expected to achieve the same football skills at the same time even though it is acknowledged that some do not have the conditions or opportunities necessary to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for an absence of interest in football, coordination problems of any kind, or for a lack of desire to perform athletically. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL !
3. Talented players will be asked to play at the back of the field, on their own, without coaching. The coaches will devote all of their instructional time to athletes not interested in football or to those who have limited athletic ability.
4. A full season of games will be played, however statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th and 11th games.
This will create a New Age of Sports in which ALL teams will make the playoffs and where all teams will win the State Championship. This will bring the USA to world prominence in football by 2012.
2006-12-27 04:48:52
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answer #5
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answered by maxma327 4
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It's basically an assessment program to make sure all sub groups within schools are learning the materiaMF
The problems?
1. Too much emphasis on math and reading to the exclusion of other valuable and creative subjects.
2. Not enough money for remediation. It's almost being used to punish schools.
3. Makes the assumption that all students will be proficient by the year 2014, including special ed. An impossible goal and one that many believe is designed to show that public schools are failing.
2006-12-27 16:14:53
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answer #6
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answered by Shelley 3
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NCLB has created questions by educators and parents that are thought provoking such as-
the child who had half of brain removed because dad beat child on the head with a brick...and the teachers are supposed to have him on grade level at end of third grade?? physically impossible. and the alternate portfolio assessment is not accepted.
and the children in our country as English lang. learners must take standardized and state assessments after being in school in the USA for one year...and research shows that it takes 7 years to acquire language proficiency.
and gov. selected assessment for reading fluency relies only on speed of reading such as how many words read aloud in one minute when the National Reading Panel(NCLB claims to be based on the work of this panel but the differences are vast and significant) defines fluency as speed, expression and comprehension. So readers are being trained to meet the benchmark on fluency assessment read words quickly without expression or comprehension and remember that the reading without comprehension is just calling words...reading is comprehension.
the problems with NCLB are vast.
the report of the National Reading Panel was out of print the last time I checked but booklets for parents and teachers could be ordered on line for free
2006-12-27 03:57:31
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answer #7
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answered by Library Eyes 6
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The reason that teachers have a negative view of the NCLB act is because we are seeing first-hand how it does NOT work and how many children ARE getting left behind as a result of it.
I teach 3rd grade in the state of Texas. 3rd grade is the first year for the big TAKS test. These poor little eight and nine year olds have such incredible pressure placed on them with this test. Not only that, but the teachers also have such intense pressure. Everything is about test scores. So much time has to be devoted to preparing for the test. We are told that we aren't supposed to "teach to the test," but we are supposed to teach good reading strategies which in turn will help students on the test. This is what I try to do, because I do not believe in teaching to the test. In reality, however, we do have to spend a large amount of time teaching testing strategies and we have less time to spend teaching other things that I feel would be much more beneficial.
I teach in a school that has a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students, many of whom have little support from home. Many of my students come to me on a reading level far below where they should be. In my school, the principal rarely will retain students in second grade, even if everything indicates that they need to be retained, because she figures that the TAKS test will just "catch" them in third grade. So some of these poor students come to third grade unprepared and struggle through the entire year, only to have to face this enormous test and then experience failure on the test. And, as the teacher, suddenly I am the one accountable for getting them from a first grade level up to a third grade reading level in time for the TAKS test. Now, I do believe that teachers should definitely be accountable in some way for what they teach. I take my job very seriously and do everything I possibly can to help my students. But when students come to me on a first grade reading level, it is not the first or second grade teachers who are held accountable - it is me. How is that fair?
One of the main problems that I have with the NCLB act is how many students actually ARE being left behind as a result. In my school district, we are required to spend a large amount of time every day in small groups with students who are struggling. We are required to spend so much time in small groups with the struggling students that all of the other students - those who are not at the very "bottom" - are left behind. They are not given the attention that they deserve and require for their own personal development and success. I realize that the students who are struggling do need attention and help, and the last thing I want to do is leave them behind while everyone else moves on. If I were able to teach in the way that I feel is most effective for my students, instead of having to spend the majority of my time in small groups, exclusively with the "low" students, I could do some very effective whole-group teaching where every child is active and working at their own level, everybody is progressing, and nobody is being left behind. But, that is not the case. I am not able to teach in the way that I feel would be best for my students, because the district and state are placing strict guidelines on how I have to spend my time in the classroom - and it is not what is in the best interest of my students.
While the NCLB act may have been good in its intentions, it is not working, and I don't know of any teacher who is pleased with the effects it has had. I am tired of people who have no idea what really goes on in the classroom deciding what is best for my students.
2006-12-27 08:11:07
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answer #8
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answered by luv2teach 2
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NCLB is based on a flawed system. Houston Independent Schools lied for years about their scores and when the President saw their "success" he created a instructional plan which was then mandated for every school in the nation to follow.
It is leaving every child behind, and making schools, students, teachers all across the nation focus on the test not the content.
2006-12-27 05:21:17
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answer #9
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answered by astroaoz 2
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It's supposed to guarantee that every child is given a proper education with certain criteria followed by all teachers, no matter how difficult it is to teach a child. Some children no matter how hard you try to teach them, they just don't want to cooperate, in or out of the classroom.
2006-12-27 03:20:08
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answer #10
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answered by froggi6106 4
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