Does No Child Left Behind encourage schools to teach to the test and ignore the needs of the individual child?

Answer 1

Yeah...my teachers teach strictly based on the SOL test for their subject. SOL is standard of learning by the way. I live in VA, but I'm sure all states have similar tests. I just think the No Child Left Behind act just sort of dumbs us down because school is too heavily based on tests, and basically it says "let's make our schools easier so no one fails", but what about the kids who don't fail?

Answer 2

I don't think it directly encourages it, but unfortunately it is the end result. The state bases district funding on the scores it acheives, so the districts are exerting a lot of pressure on the schools, and thereby the teachers to get high scores. Teachers are told their jobs depend on their students passing the test. So of course that becomes the focus. And it is justified with the logic that if the test judges a child in their basic knowledge and they pass then they are teaching what is needed.

Unfortunatly this requires classrooms to be focused on the child with the lowest comprehension and makes no allowance for children who are excelling. Also things that were a normal part of learning for me like memorizing math facts and good handwriting concepts are not needed to pass the test, so they are left out. And things like recess, PE, art and music take away from learning time so they are minimized. It really needs work.

Answer 3

No, it does not. The test is simply a way to establish if all students have met the standards set by the state. If a teacher is truly teaching the standards (which she should be), the test will only test that. HOW a teacher assists students in meeting those standards can be modified and adapted to his/her students' needs. Most state's standards are in line with the national standards. Therefore, if all students are going to be judged on the same standards, there must be a baseline assessment on which all students are judged.

Answer 4

Perhaps not at all schools, but certainly mine. State Standards are posted per class per subject on the wall. Admins. must be able to walk in at all times and see that activity in lessons and on the wall on-going. OK so that's just good practice, however look at the state standards on your state dept of education. If they are like mone, they are lists and lists of goals which are menat to be fused together with content material HOWEVER teachers are expected to teach all of them in one year- there are hundreds, so most teachers I work with just teach the goals in isolation.
Individual gaols are meaningless unless the student sees the application. There just is no time for that.All major concepts need to be taught by this week, at my school, as next week start two weeks of standardized testing...May is a complete waste of time with further review...
The other thing I object to is there are teacher cut-backs at the same time we are asked to teach much more, with student who are not "prepped" at home to become learners!
There is no place for students who do not pass- we don't have adequate summer school. There are few kids who are retained..usually parent take them out of schol and look for some place new.
I agree that the gifted and the bright are left to become bored as most of the special classes for them will be cut next year, but I disagree that schools teach to the bottom. As some states change criterial, there are a lot of kids who used to be served by Special ed, who are now being dismissed as they do not qualify anymore. When we lost six teachers on year, they decided to reclassify all that class because the real reason was they couldn't find teachers who would stay...Come visit our developmental preschool with 22 MIMR, ED, Autistic, HI and VI all in one room with one aid, George W.!

Answer 5

As far as I can tell, it does. NCLB poses unrealistic expectations, and teachers are forced to have each child perform at the same lever, whether or not the child is ready at the time the test is given. Each person learns at his own pace, but NCLB doesn't allow for that. It just leaves slower achievers feeling frustrated, when they know that they can get to the same level if allowed a little more time.

On top of that, it doesn't give the teachers time to *teach*, as my mother did, helping children understand and 'get into' Shakespeare, developing proper grammar, or learning how to learn on their own by using dictionaries, encyclopedias, and even the Internet. NCLB is a great disservice to our children.

When's the last time you saw a store stay open during a black-out, when some people need emergency supplies? Beyond the fact that cash registers all run on electricity, most kids don't know how to do math with pencil and paper anymore. Even our military trains its signalmen in *all* forms of communication (Morse code, semaphore, etc.) - just in case!!