Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act

President Bush made a landmark in education law and that revolutionary move was called No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The NCLB or nickelbee, as called by some, became a highly controversial US federal law. It gave authority once again to a few federal programs intended to better primary schools and secondary schools in the United States by raising accountability standards for schools, school districts, and states. It also provides parents more choices of schools for their children to enroll to. Moreover, the NCLB is making reading its center of attention and it reauthorized the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965).

The No Child Left Behind Act is a federal legislation that works on the belief that if actually measurable goals and high expectations are set, every child’s scholastic outcome can improve. This law then requires all states to have certain assessments developed, assessments that would test students’ basic skills. If states do not follow through, they will not receive any federal funding for their schools. There is no achievement standard set nationally however. Instead, such standards will be set by each state as deemed appropriate. The No Child Left Behind Act also requires each school to submit enrolled students’ information like address, phone number and name to military recruiters except if a student or the parents specifically says no.

The NCLB became so controversial because there were many people who were vocally against it and there were also many who wholeheartedly support the law. Plenty of negatives as well as positive points were raised. One of the more vocally stressed negative points of the NCLB is that effectiveness of instruction as well as students’ learning can be greatly reduced. The reason behind this is that states may opt to set achievement goals that are low and will spur the teachers to teach only those things that are relevant to the tests.

One of the primary supportive points for the No Child Left Behind Act is that a testing system will finally determine which schools in the country are not effectively teaching their students the necessary basic skills. If this data can be gathered, proper intervention can then be made to improve the performance of that certain school. The outcomes produced by students can then be improved through the No Child Left Behind Act. Also, achievement gaps can be lowered for those students who are disabled and at a disadvantage.