What is No Child Left Behind?

[homeschoolmama]

My experience with NCLB is that the Gov. is trying dumb down the smart kids and bring up those kids that are special needs or just not fast learners. This was evident in my daughter's 3rd grade SAT score. She scored Average in everything, I asked her were there things on the test you did not learn? She said yes. The only kids that did better are the ones that used private tutors after school. Well I home schooled her for 4 years and she now in the advanced group in Jr. High and doing very well. But I would have to venture to say she would not be in the advanced group if I had left her in elementary school with No Child Left Behind in place.

[starchild2467@yahoo.com]

in my expierence , my daughter had missed the whole month of january of school because she had mrsa in her left ear canal and ever since she had been battling with ear infections in that same ear that required her to have a picc line in her arm for a month at a time and she has had 3 of them she had missed so much school that i was going to keep her back and had convinced her {my daughter} to repeat the fifth grade we went to the school and the principal had told my husband and i that since she had an i.e.p. that we couldn't keep her back and that no matter what her grades were she was going to go on to the 6th grade her report card had c's and d's and a couple of incompletes so i dont understand what this no child left behind act is when they are just pushing kids through school i think it is because the government dont want to take responsibility for not having a very good educational system and the only ones that are suffering for it is our children so that is why this year i am going to home school my daughter online and she will be tested to see just what grade she is supposed to be in.... we are still battling the ear infections and my daughter may have to go on the picc line again and then she will be missing the first month of this year

[BRoxMum]

Accountability. There isn't a job in the world that doesn't have some form of accountability. This is where the system is weak. Schools are being treated as a business and the students are employees.

Ideally we hire the best and brightest for our business. No one can deny that the demographic of a school's population is varied. The No Child Left Behind Act is supposed to address the needs "Assessment results and State progress objectives must be broken out by poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency to ensure that no group is left behind. School districts and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward statewide proficiency goals will, over time, be subject to improvement, corrective action, and restructuring measures aimed at getting them back on course to meet State standards. Schools that meet or exceed AYP objectives or close achievement gaps will be eligible for State Academic Achievement Awards."

I agree there should always be a degree of improvement from year to year and of course it needs to be measured, but it's the standardized testing I take issue with. Are you aware that instructional time is spent teaching our children how to take the test? I am also troubled that teacher's salary is commensurate with respect to the test results. The teacher is still accountable for low performers who are barely in the classroom. (They are generally given extra instructional out of class time to try and drag up their test scores as a "correctional action"). I'm also troubled that a school's grade never seems to be compared apples to apples. There is no way a regular public school can compare to a fundamental school.

We're forcing our children to be good test takers. I question how much they are really learning?

I really question these policy makers. Are they or have they ever been teachers? Do they really know what's going on in our classrooms? Why can't government examine an education model that's established and really works?

[mindy5140]

No child left behinds means to me that my son has to do the regular work while others that are in the same class as him only get to do little of the work. An example of this is, my son gets 25 spelling words while some of the kids that are considered IEP get 6 words. How is that fair? I don't think that's teaching children anything at all and that will carry on in their adult life. I feel bad for these children but the children that are doing well get pushed to the side and let fall down in the cracks because the teachers focus so much on the IEP children.

Where are the advocates for the children that don't have problems???

This is my opinion only, I don't mean to put down children that do have problems. I think everyone deserves an education.

[BRoxMum]

Mindy 5140,

I'm in my son's school a lot and in 3 different grade level classrooms. I feel like I rant about what I witness. I'm not bragging, my son is at the top of the bell curve and because of this there is very little focused attention his way. NCLB act has classroom instruction dancing to meet the needs of lower performers.

Don't get me wrong...I want instruction for everyone! The problem being when I've approached administrator's and talk of "leveling" (instruct to ability) classrooms they say it will never happen because it smacks of discrimination. I can totally see how that could happen.

My argument is that every child is different and we need to teach to the needs of specific children. There are possibly caps as far as how much some children can learn. Undeniably all children should show improvement but the expectation on some is impossible!

This is so frustrating! I'm acutely aware of how important my involvement is with my son's education. I am making sure to give him what he isn't getting in school.

I'm thinking there isn't enough money to make the school system the best it can be?

[Cassagc]

Unfortunately, I live in the state that started all this crap. Texas was the first state to have NCLB. It was started by then Gov. George W. Bush. I was in high school when NCLB was implemeted. While it didn't affect my school experience too much (more standardized testing was required but luckly for me I'm good at testing), it seriously affected 3 of my 4 younger sisters' educations. It got worse when Pres. Bush implemented it nationwide.

It truely is an attempt to push every child through the same mold even though 9 times out of 10 a child won't fit for one reason or another. It's taken the cirruculum and dumbed it down so that no child is being challenged. It's also taken out additional classes such as computer/art/music and even gym. It's gotten rid of the specialized classes for children who needed to be challanged or for children with special needs/learning assistance needs. It's forced teachers to focus so much on getting kids to pass the standardized tests that nothing else is taught in class.

While I am not a teacher, two of my sisters are. They HATE NCLB! As parents we need to band together and do everything we can to get this program out of our children's schools. I will not be putting my son in public schools until this and any program that relates to it is still being implemented. I'm able to make that decision and have the money to put him into a private school. A lot of parents do not and their children should not suffer just because our government is run by folks who don't care to work out a program logically.

[crystele]

NCLB honestly feels like another wealth distribution tool. In large districts, it means more money to the poorest schools so they are awash in money but their scores are still dismal.
Meanwhile the "better" areas struggle to deal because no money is pushed their way. That is my experience with NCLB.

[figlet]

I've read all the literature and I get that they want every child to have the best chance at a good education. But I see the teachers teaching to the test. I refer to the NJASK, our state test. I definitely think there have to be changes made.

My biggest concern is the fact that I was just told by 2 parents that 2 students who failed all classes except gym, were moved ahead to the next grade!! No where in my reading (unless I missed it) does no child left behind say that a failing student doesn't get left behind in the grade they failed. How are we giving them an equal chance to succeed in the future by passing them ahead not knowing what they should?

[coloradomomof3]

Both of my sons were young when they started school, and looking back I should have waited a year but they were old enough to go so they went. They have both struggled and I have had to demand that they be held back. My oldest is now 14. We held him back in 2nd grade and it made a huge difference. Our youngest just turned 7 and is repeating 1st. I had to start petitioning the school in January of last year to have him held back and it literally took me till May to convince them. In both cases the teachers admitted that the boys needed to be held back but knew it wouldn't/couldn't be done. I fought and it has truly paid off. Our 14 year old is now taking advanced classes and doing well in them. As for my 7 year old I can't even believe the difference a year and a different teacher has made. My current definition of NCLB is this, No one can be left literally behind the others even if they aren't prepared or able to advance because that might make them feel sad and make the school look bad. My reply to that is Oh Well. Sometimes we have to look bad and feel sad to do better. I know this is a very simple look at it, maybe to simple but in my mind realistic. My question is this what sense does it make to spend 1/2 of the year reviewing and preparing for CSAP (CO standardized) 2-3 weeks taking them and then cramming an entire year into the last half of the school year? We get notes home asking us to feed our kids better and to make sure they get their sleep during the tests. Are these not things we as parents should be doing already all year? In our district we have 1 teacher who sets the lesson plans for all the teachers in that subject and grade, leaving little room if anyone needs extra help or if a child is ahead of the class. It is ridiculous!