Nikolas Jameson

The No Child Left Behind Act Is the biggest educational law passed in the history of American law Passed in 2001 by President George W. Bush It aims to improve primary and secondary education

Goals and Main Points All students achievement must progress each year until 2014 By 2014 all students must be 100% proficient in math and reading To achieve this goal, the Act requires that states institute a statewide accountability system to test students This system uses standardized tests to test students on difficult math and reading standards

Goals and Main Points (cont.) After taking the tests students are split into three categories Elementary- grades 3-5 Middle School- grades 6-9 High School- grades Students and schools who are not meeting their categories requirements are subject to improvement courses The Act aims to increase schools’ accountability and intends to give more choices to parents

The Act Undermines teachers and Students in Public Schools Under the Act, teachers only teach to the standardized tests Students only memorize useless facts and test-taking skills, while they should be developing real learning skills

Who is hurt the most by the Act? Minorities, Economically disadvantaged, and English language learners They are then put in remedial classes in which they continue to fall farther behind their peers

Who is unfairly favored? White middle to upper class individuals Standardized testing favors white individuals They are put in advanced or gifted classes when they might not meet the requirements

Teachers Are Forced to Teach to the Test They lose their right to actually teach Teachers are quitting and/or not entering the teaching field due to the Act

How Well is the Act Working? Only two states are currently on target to meet the act’s goals It is nearly impossible to make one-hundred percent of our nation’s students proficient The federal government is not providing states with enough money to fund the No Child Left Behind Act Proficiency changes from state-to-state which means children are measured differently based on their state of residence

Standardized test are the Sole Benchmark of Students One test cannot be the basis for educational decisions Raising test scores is becoming the most important indicator of a school’s improvement

Standardized Tests are Unfair to Students and Teachers They give teachers false information about their students Multiple choice tests are not a fair way to assess students

USA is the Only Nation That Solely Uses Standardized Tests to Evaluate Students Other nations are catching up the United States academically

Works Cited Arce, Josephine; Luna, Debra; Borjian, Ali; Conrad, Marguerite. "No Child Left Behind: Who Wins? Who Loses?." Social Justice eLibrary. Proquest CSA. GETTYSBURG AREA HIGH SCHOOL. 30 Sep "Archived Summary of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." ED.gov. 10 Feb Departement of Education. 18 Oct Blanchard, Mark A.. Personal interview. Oct Caillier, James Gerard. "The No Child Left Behind Act: Are States On Target To Make Their Goals?." Journal of Negro Education eLibrary. Proquest CSA. GETTYSBURG AREA HIGH SCHOOL. 29 Sep "How Standardized Testing Damages Education." Fairtest. 20 Aug Fairtest- The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. 29 Sep "Whats Wrong With Standardized Tests?." Fairtest. 17 Dec Fairtest- The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. 30 Sep