Teachers: Do you detest or applaud No Child Left Behind, and why?

Answer 1

No Child Left Behind has lots of faults. First of all, it is a program that teaches students not to learn, but just to memorize answers to a test so they can move to the next grade. Schools should actually be teaching kids in other methods, not standarizing it. They should focus on critical thinking, on whether a child understands the subject matter. What if some kid is a poor test taker but really knows the subject?
Also, No Child Left Behind has no room for subjects other than math and reading. What about foreign languages? The arts? Music? Theatre? Those are important subjects for children to learn about, and they're just brushed aside.

Answer 2

Detest...while I was in law school I taught a general law class to high school juniors at the local high schools.

One school in particular was dirt poor. About 85% of students were on free or reduced lunch. The black law students association donated books for me to take to teach as the books the school had were almost 10 years old...for a required class. Sometimes the heating didn't work and this was in Ohio. Overall the educational envireonment was abismal.

Do you know what No child left behind did? When the test scores did not improve in these circumstances NCLB kicked in and fixed the problem...by cutting much needed funding which obviously made things worse. No teacher wants to teach there because they know they will be fired...as the school board is forced to clean house every other year or so...it is just an assinine proposition.

Answer 3

Detest. I have to cope with the damage that cr~p is doing to our young people as a college instructor.

Half of the kids who make it as far as college know little but the factoids they've learned to pass those stupid competancy tests--and have forgotten half of that. In the meantime, they are not being taught high level literacy skills, critical thinking, logic--all the things they really need.

And the so called "funding based on outcomes" is disgusting. Supposedly it rewards schools that do well. But in practice here's what happens: Schools who are in areas with a strong (middle-class) income base have the resources to provide a good education. And get the lions share of the money--not because they are doing better but because they don't have the problems that come with inadequte funding. At the same time, schools in low income areas find themselves losing even more money--then get blamed for not performing.

Which makes about as much sense as giving a blood transfusionto a healthy person by taking the blood from someone who is bleeding to death.

And--given the correlation between ethnicity and income, this is enriching the middle class educational system while further placing blacks and other minorities at a disadvantage. So of course the neocons and Bushbot s love it.

Answer 4

Absolutely hate it!!! (I am not a teacher, but I am a grad student.) No Child Left Behind does nothing to help the children AT ALL. It forces teachers to quit teaching and be babysitters. It forces them to pass kids that shouldn't be passed. It also keeps the school districts from having to hire special education teachers to help the kids that REALLY need help learning! Instead, they slip through the cracks. Infact, the cracks are huge ravines now.
As a graduate student, I see college undergraduates AND graduates that can't even write a complete sentence. This shouldn't be happening! When I go to the financial aid office at my university, I shouldn't have to double check the accountant's math! But guess what? I do!

Answer 5

i neither detest nor applaud because it includes so many mandates... some good some bad. i do, however, think it's a step in the right direction towards making sure students are not moving forward in school without having learned essential grade level material - that is the most important element.

Answer 6

As a student I detested it because the slow kids caused a lot of trouble. Life got SO much easier in grade 11 when they started sending them to modified classes.

Answer 7

Detest. Money should not be taken away from failing school, but given to it. Most failing schools have no resources to begin with.

Beyond that the tests are repetitive and not good assessment tools. I have actually had tests with errors on them that I have had to give out.

Policy makers need to start listening to teachers.

Answer 8

No child left behind has turned teaching and delivering an education into being a coach to prepare kids for tests. A well intentioned idea, unfortunately it doesn't quite fill the name.

Answer 9

I detest it. It's just another federal attempt to make the nations educational system seem more fair to the poor. When all it actually does it impose actions that cant be carried out.

Answer 10

I hate it because it is entirely unrealistic. It unnecessarily puts pressure on teachers and school districts. I have not met a single colleague who agrees with or supports it. It is important to have high expectations for children, but not the point of insanity like NCLB.