References Case

When the No Child Left Behind act first came about it had one main purpose; to try and close, or at least reduce, the achievement gap between high achievers and low achievers. In some ways, this law was very successful because it brought to attention the problem in schools, by

"forcing states [in the USA] to specify performance goals, report data, and increase pressure for better performance."

All around the United States it was recognized that there was a problem,

unfortunately the No Child Left Behind law didn't

do a very good job of reforming the techniques used in education to address this problem. Even after eight years of the No Child Left Behind act being in place, the United States

education system hasn't seen much improvement in the minorities and the poor students who

attend the schools. The No Child Left Behind Act requires all students to reach a level of proficiency on standardized testing each year. Unfortunately, it also lets each state decide their definition of proficient, which often sets the bar much too low. So even with the large range of levels of proficient throughout the United States, there are very few students who reach this proficient level, who are ready to move on to any further education. The schools are trying to have all students meet the standards, which increase every year, and so the only way they know how to do that is to teach the children exactly what they need to know to pass the test.

References:

Freiberg & Driscoll (2005). Universal teaching strategies. Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Lynn, R. (2003 December 8). Federal mandate: A complex statistical formula. Salt Lake Tribune.

Patton, J. R. & TVainor, A. (2002). Using applied academics to enhance curricular reform in

Secondary education. Aligning transition and standards-based education: Issues and

Strategies. pp. 55-76.

Thompson, T. (n.d.). Beyond NCLB: Fulfilling the promise to our nation's children. The

Commission on No Child Left Behind. Retrieved September 18, 2009, from

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7BDEB6F227-659B-4EC8-8F84

8DF23CA704F5%7D/NCLB_ExSum.pdf

Wirt, J. et al (2004). The condition of education 2004. Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office.