The law created a new competitive grant program called Reading First, funded to the tune of $1.02 billion in 2004, to help states and districts establish “science-based, research-based” reading programs for K-3 children (with priority given to areas of high poverty). A smaller early reading programme should help states better prepare children aged 3 to 5 in disadvantaged areas for reading. Funding for the program was then significantly reduced by Congress during budget negotiations. [113] “There is a mistake in the law and everyone knows it,” Alabama State Superintendent Joe Morton said Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, by 2014, every child at school level should test reading and math. “This can`t happen,” Morton said. “You have too many variables and you have too many scenarios, and everyone knows that would never happen.” Alabama state board member Mary Jane Caylor said, “I don`t think No Child Left Behind helped this state.” She argued that the 100% competency target was unattainable. [76] Charles Murray wrote of the law: “The United States Congress, acting by a large bipartisan majority, at the urging of the President, has enacted as the law of the land that all children should be above average.” [77] [78] President George W. Some schools ended up “putting it to the test” – focusing only on what students were tested. This left little time for everything the children needed or wanted to learn. In February 2007, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, co-chair of the Aspen Commission on No Child Left Behind, announced the release of the Commission`s final recommendations for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. [129] The Commission is an independent, bipartisan effort to improve NCLB and ensure that it is a more useful force in closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and peers.
After a year of consultation, analysis and research, the Commission has discovered the achievements of the NCLB and the provisions that need to be substantially amended. How to cite this articleKlein, A. (2015 April 10). No child left behind: an overview. Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year by www.edweek.org/policy-politics/no-child-left-behind-an-overview/2015/04Stacey Decker, deputy editor for digital, contributed to this article. NCLB was designed to address concerns that the U.S. education system is lagging behind its international competitors by blaming schools for improving student achievement through mandatory standardized tests and minimum achievement benchmarks.
The law required states to test students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math and divide student data into subgroups based on race, disability, and socioeconomic status. States also had to ensure that all teachers were “highly qualified,” meaning they had a bachelor`s degree and state certification in the subject they teach. Schools and districts that have not made adequate annual progress for two years have faced increasingly severe penalties, including the need to allow students to transition to higher-performing schools, offer free tutoring, and face government intervention.