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No Child Left Behind: Research Activity
Proposed originally on January 23, 2001, just three days after President George W. Bush took office, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) formed the first part of his education reform program.
Passed by Congress with a substantial bipartisan majority, the bill was designed to improve the performance of public schools throughout the United States by increasing the accountability of institutions and giving parents greater flexibility in where their children attended school.
In this activity from History Study Center (free trial), learn about the impact of NCLB on American schools and debate whether the overall effect of this landmark educational reform has been positive or negative.
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The NCLB Act reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of April 1965, which distributed additional Title I funding to schools containing high numbers (more than 40 percent) of students from low-income families.
Built upon the theory of "outcome-based" education reform, the act places a strong emphasis on results and requires all publically funded schools to participate in annual standardized state-wide tests for all students. Schools receiving Title I funding must ensure that their students make year-on-year improvements in their test scores.
Failure to do this will result in the institution being placed on a "failing schools" list, their Title I funding cut, and their students' parents given the opportunity to transfer their children to another school.
Learning Activity
- Assign students to read this excerpted statement from President Bush in which he announced the NCLB Act.
- Have students do research to find out more about the impact of NCLB. What changes has it brought? What have teachers, administrators, government leaders, and others had to say about it? In addition to library and/or online research, students could be asked to interview teachers or administrators to get their response to this important education initiative.
- Divide students into two teams and have the class debate the pros and cons of NCLB. For example, students could talk about how NCLB has led to greater accountability, improved test scores, increased school choice, etc.
On the other hand, they could argue that NCLB simply encourages teachers to "teach to a test" instead of teaching students what they really need to know. Furthermore, students could claim that standardized testing is ineffective, that NCLB objectives are unrealistic, that the law penalizes low-performing as well as gifted and talented students, that NCLB overemphasizes "core subjects" at the expense of the arts and other curriculum areas, etc.
If you desire, you can also assign a small group of students to be the judges and let them pick a winner based on the arguments made and the evidence presented.
- Following the debate, lead the class in a discussion of what reforms could be instituted to improve the education system of the United States.
You could explore such topics as school vouchers, charter schools, methods of assessment, merit pay for teachers, federal vs. state control of education, home schooling, education funding, etc.
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