Introduction
The former United States president Gorge W. Bush proposed the No Child Left behind Act of 2001 ‘NCLB’ and signed it into law on January 8, 2002 (Lewis, 2010). The Act came as good news to the education fraternity as its provisions were very friendly. NCLB required that all public schools be given financial support by the government. Receiving federal financial support was crucial for the public schools to continue service to the American population as the author asserts (Lewis, 2010). The funding aimed to try to administer a standardized test every year to students in public schools (Chaddock, 2010). This brought equality in the public schools for all students would be tested under similar conditions countrywide a fact that brought sanity in the education sector.
Main body
The act also requires the state to provide highly qualified teaching staff to schools to achieve high grades. It is within the students’ rights to have qualified teachers, although the quality standards of teachers differ from one state to the other. Each state has its mechanism for determining the qualification standard. The act had some impacts on the students, the teachers, and the school districts as well (Lewis, 2010). Primarily, this act improved the level of accountability, which is a requirement of schools to meet certain standards. Teachers also are required to be able to offer certain professional teaching standards, which also enhances accountability. This is further emphasized by the Acts requirement for schools to pass the yearly test that shows the level of improvement made by students in every financial year (Lewis, 2010).
According to the act, schools must show improvement in every financial year to justify their need for funding. The standardized test throughout the country, therefore, acts as a standard playground for schools to show their commitment to better services to students. According to the article, the author feels that the introduction of this act has spurred competition in the education system (Lewis, 2010). Other than that, schools are more careful to meet the set threshold to avoid being underfunded due to lack of performance. The government through this act can now control the quality of the education system hence enhancing better performance countrywide. The act outlines other punishments that have contributed to the increased accountability according to the article (Lewis, 2010).
The Act has served an essential role in serving the schools and the students to recognize the significance of the education system and its effects on the country (Chrismer, Hodge, & Sainti, 2006). As Chrismer, Hodge, & Saint asserts, some of the critics of this law dispute that the penalties in this Act only affect the schools and do not add to the enhancement of their performance (2006). However, the supporters of the act think differently. Setting some guiding rules on the educational systems is paramount to the improvement of the quality of offered services. The supporters claim that the act has helped to link content standards with student outcomes (Chaddock, 2010). The standardized test measures the student’s improvement annually from the 3rd grade to the 8th grade (Chaddock, 2010). The act also requires the schools to provide the parents with information on the progress of their children’s academic progress by providing a detailed report card at the end of every academic year.
The act raised the level of education standards by requiring new teachers to have a bachelor’s degree. A fully certified teacher has to be a holder of a university degree to ensure equitable distribution of qualified teachers (Chaddock, 2010). Nonetheless, standardized testing has come under intense criticism from different parties. Some feel that it is a strain on the government expenditure while others see the move as unfair competition for states. Critics argue that standardized tests are unfair because they set students under the same conditions, which is critically impossible. All states have different challenges faced by students hence giving them a standardized test to measure their performance progress is not a prudent move. According to critics, some students will have some advantages over others depending on their locations and vice versa.
However, according to the article, the local government had failed in providing quality education to students hence the intervention of the federal government. The education system was characterized by gross malpractices that led to poor performances in public schools hence necessitating federal intervention. Such malpractices included instances where teachers would teach outside their areas of expertise (Chrismer, Hodge, & Sainti, 2006).
Conclusion
Nonetheless, the act undoubtedly has increased the quality of education in the United States of America. Scientific research is a requirement that has increased the level and quality of education in schools (Lewis, 2010) this has also increased the level of early literacy in the United States, which is a good start. The act has brought along changes that were necessary for the education system and the changes are bearing positive results already. The government had to come in to rescue the almost failing system under the local authorities. This article has clearly outlined the benefits of this act and the criticism surrounding its implementation.
References
Chaddock, G. (2010). Obama’s No Child Left Behind revise: a little more flexibility. Web.
Chrismer, S., Hodge, S., & Sainti, D. (2006). Introduction to Assessing NCLB. Web.
Lewis, T. (2010). Obama Administration to Push for NCLB Reauthorization This Year. Web.