No Child Left Behind

NCLB

Zack Barsamian

History:
No Child Left Behind is a federal law that provides money for extra educational assistance for poor children in return for improvements in their academic progress. NCLB is the most recent version of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The law was passed in 2002- It was a "collaboration between Civil Rights and business groups, as well as both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Bush administration, which sought to advance American competitiveness and close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more advantaged peers." Over the years it has become increasingly controversial with the general public.

Goal: all students will score a "proficient" level in reading and math by 2014. States set annual target for the percentage of students scoring proficient with the final goal of 100% proficiency by 2014.

Consequences,
There are many consequences for schools that don't meet this requirement.

`1.) After one year, the schools who don't make annual progress are put on a "school improvement" list.

2.) Students attending schools that do not make progress for two years in a row will be given the option to transfer to another school

3.) Schools on the "improvement" list for 3 years in a row must provide supplemental services for their students, such as tutoring or after school programs.

4.) After 4 years on the list, schools must either: replace staff, use new curriculum, decrease school management authority, appoint outside experts, extend school year, or restructure.

5.) After 5 years on list, schools face restructuring, such as firing staff, privatization, charter school management, state take over, or other comparable charges.

Positives...?
Many of these consequences are what caused low income schools to shift focus. If a school needs to change so much, then teachers focus on keeping the students testing scores high, while not focusing on what students WANT to learn. These are all negative for low income schools, but though there are a lot of negatives, there are also some positives for the act. But these are only for the schools that performed well in the tests.
 * Your child may be eligible to move to a better school or could receive free tutoring.
 * Your school could qualify for grants to use toward attracting top-notch teachers or other school programs.

The NCLB Act increased the schooling level divide between poor schools and middle/upper class schools. It made it difficult for lower class citizens to have a better job and advance in society, trapping them in their social class.

In 2015, this act was replaced by the ESSA, or Every Student Succeeds Act.

Sources:

https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/no-child-left-behind-overview-definition-summary.html

https://www.fairtest.org/what-no-child-left-behind-law

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/no-child-left-behind/