56). Less than 13% of teachers in American classrooms currently possess even minimal ESL training, though, and just 8 to 10% of teachers have bilingual or ESL certification (Rice & Pappamihiel, 2004)
No Child Left Behind Act when passed by Congress is stated to have been "widely hailed as a bipartisan breakthrough -- a victory for American children, particularly those traditionally underserved by public schools." (Darling-Hammond, ) While the NCLB does have some "major breakthroughs" including "flagging differences in student performance by race and class, it shines a spotlight on longstanding inequalities and could trigger attention to the needs of students neglected in many schools
Its sinking trajectory demonstrates how difficult it can be for politicians in Washington to improve the quality of education offered in classrooms across the country." (Miners, 2009) Summary & Conclusion The No Child Left Behind act was soon upon its passing dubbed many titles including the Every Child Left Behind Act as well as other more cleverly appointed names that demonstrated the lack of efficacy of this act and the policymaker's failure to consult with educators and teachers but instead to enact such laws from the political sector has only served to demonstrate failure on the part of politicians and policymakers
However, the methods through which the Bush administration attempted to achieve those objectives are, in the views of many educators and observers, extremely detrimental to the overall quality of American public education (Darling-Hammond, 2004; Murray, 2006; Sonnenblick, 2008). First, the NCLB Act does not address the needs of students who are already achieving at a proficient level (Sonnenblick, 2008)
Moreover, it is not yet clear how states will define progress for students with significant cognitive disabilities related to state standards in reading, math, and science (Cooper-Duffy 2003). Despite the stated intent of NCLB to improve outcomes for all students, particularly those who have been historically neglected, educators and others may adopt a series of "gaming" practices, which give students a special education classification to exclude them from high-stakes tests, in order to artificially inflate schools' passing rates (Booher-Jennings 2006)
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002 changed the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. The NCLB Act focuses on policy and distribution of funds to public schools, with federal funds mostly distributed to school districts whose populations come from lower economic levels and represent culturally diverse populations, such as African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians, and Latinos (Conrad 2005)
The demographic increases demonstrate to government agencies that more needs to be done to support and ensure their integration and success in the educational process, and standardized testing in English is the least appropriate way to meet their needs (Conrad 2005). Moreover, it is not yet clear how states will define progress for students with significant cognitive disabilities related to state standards in reading, math, and science (Cooper-Duffy 2003)
A 2004 study, has calculated that NCLB, over time, will result in the failure of all schools, based on mathematical flaws in the formulas for calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) (Lemberger 2006). Under NCLB, more and more children are marginalized, as services to gifted children have been cut and funds allocated to remediate students (Gentry 2006)
In fact, this "one-size-fits-all" mentality is now being questioned by a growing number of state legislators, school administrators, and teachers who believe that the NCLB Act is actually hurting teacher preparation programs and places far too much emphasis on testing and reporting provisions, without adequate funding (Odland 2006). A 2004 study, has calculated that NCLB, over time, will result in the failure of all schools, based on mathematical flaws in the formulas for calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) (Lemberger 2006)
While educators are organizing at the grass roots, teachers' unions and parents are publicly opposing the No Child Left Behind Act (Conrad 2005). In fact, this "one-size-fits-all" mentality is now being questioned by a growing number of state legislators, school administrators, and teachers who believe that the NCLB Act is actually hurting teacher preparation programs and places far too much emphasis on testing and reporting provisions, without adequate funding (Odland 2006)
For example, commercialized tutorial programs are making profits at the expense of the "most needy" schools because the No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools that do not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress must use 20% of their federal funds to purchase an after-school tutorial program (Conrad 2005). Based on NCLB regulations, all schools must make adequate yearly progress resulting in 100% of the students scoring proficient or above by the year 2014 (Shibley 2005) Moreover, school districts must use tutorial programs on the federal government's approved lists
Much of the NCLB focus is based on the view that American students are falling behind in educational basis when scored are compared globally. Contrary to popular opinion, NCLB does not establish a national achievement standard; each State must set its own standards, but in order to receive funding, the States must meet a basic criteria of performance (Abernathy, 2007)
"Although most attempts to answer this question [of what works in schools] arrive at slightly different quantitative estimates, all researchers agree that the impact of decisions made by individual teachers is far greater than the impact of decisions made at the school level." (Marzano, 2003, p
Students must also take on some of the responsibility of the learning process- a teacher cannot be with a learner 24/7, and thus must impart the skills necessary to succeed while still following a prescribed curriculum and approach to basic skill sets. This, of course, requires multiple evaluation measures that both improve teacher effectiveness and student performance (Partee, 2012)
Identifying predictors related to teacher evaluation systems that lead to teacher job satisfaction would assist school administrators in designing school programs and policies to retain quality teachers in the classroom. The high attrition rate on the supply and demand of technology teachers, most especially in the rural areas of North Carolina, is quite alarming (Weston, 1997)
The majority of students with disabilities are expected to participate and progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in the state assessments, with accommodations as necessary.[footnoteRef:2] Standards are necessary and, at times draconian, but what is likely necessary is a revamping of the system to measure what is important and hold teachers responsible for what they can do, not what they have no power to implement (Wong, 2011)
The last approach, in which appraisal serves as the tail wagging the instructive dog, can bring an undesirable narrowing of the educational program and a restricting of learning outcomes. Such issues can be enhanced if choices about both direction and evaluation are guided by models of studying in academic areas that speak to the best accessible scientific comprehension of how individuals learn (Hayes, 2008)
In this case, alignment ensures that the three capacities coordinated with the same goal and strengthened instead of working at cross-purposes. An appraisal will also measure the success of what the students are being taught on whether their educational needs students are satisfied (Olivert, 2007)
State assessments are the instrument for checking if schools have been effective in educating students the skills and knowledge defined by the standard of content. As of 2005-2006, states had furnished assessments that are proper for all students in grades 3-8 and once in secondary school, incorporating learners with disabilities (Stecher, Vernez & Steinberg, 2010)
2). The teachers in Atlanta obviously felt that pressure to teach to the test because recently a report has unveiled a legacy of "widespread" cheating in standardized tests (Huffington Post)