Monday, October 18, 2010

Modifications to No Child Left Behind Obama Era

The No Child Left Behind Act was a reform, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESEA, of 1965 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. President George W. Bush created this new reform, known as NCLB, in 2001, which promised to close the achievement gap and increase accountability for school districts, while ensuring that all children meet high standards, so no child is left behind by the year 2014. It created a performance based system focusing on standardized tests to measure the success of students, where districts are then labeled as failing schools if they do not meet adequate yearly progresses, AYP. No Child Left Behind was enacted into law on January 8, 2002, with a bipartisan vote and has been our current educational law up till now.

As of March 13, 2010, President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden are proposing a change called a Blueprint for Reform, which will once again reauthorize the ESEA and modify NCLB. Together, they believe that while NCLB’s overall goal of ensuring all children can meet high standards is right, they agree the law has significant flaws that need to be addressed. Under NCLB, teachers, principals, and schools have been without necessary resources to accomplish the goals of No Child Left Behind, which has led to a need for change. Obama and Biden are proposing to improve assessments to track student progress and create assessment models that will provide educators and students with timely feedback, which can aid in improving student learning right away and measure their readiness for college and success in the workplace.

Obama and Biden also want to improve the accountability system and support schools that improve, rather than punish. Top performing schools will be considered “Reward” schools and will have less federal interference, while the lowest performing schools will be considered “Challenge” schools and require more vigorous interventions. They understand that world-class education is a prerequisite for success and expect that by 2020, the United States will once again lead the world in college completion.

In addition, Obama and Biden’s plan will work to recruit and reward well-qualified teachers in every classroom in America, support principals and school leaders, make science and math education a national priority, reduce the high school drop out rate, close the achievement gap, ensure high quality early childhood and kindergarten programs and empower parents by taking a greater role in their child’s education. Through these key points established by Obama and Biden, they believe the Blueprint for Reform will strengthen American’s public education system.

While there are many positive changes in response to NCLB, there are a few changes, which cause concern. Many teacher unions believe this blueprint places 100% of the responsibility on teachers and gives them no authority on implementing the changes. The blueprint also requires all states to develop evaluation procedures to distinguish effective instructors, partly based on student learning, which teacher unions may challenge. In addition, many states and districts could face drastic differences in the amounts of funding they receive due to a new formula for funding. The accountability system will also change, as a result, and may cause districts to become more independent to receive more funding, rather than working together for the national goal of educating all students to achieve.

While change will be instrumental in allowing America to become more competitive globally and provide our students with the world-class education they need and deserve, educators need to be included in developing the change so we can work together and have a shared responsibility in strengthening American’s public education system.

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