Do you support No Child Left Behind?

Question

Do you think it works and should we keep it around or not?

Answer 1

No, I don't.  While I agree with it in theory, in practice it is hurting more kids than it is helping.  We are taking individuality out of education and focus on teaching to the test.  Instead of embracing the fact that all kids learn differently and at their own rate, we are trying to force them all into a nice, neat little box.  One size does not fit all and I am very disappointed in what this has done to our schools and our teachers.  They have lost the right to explore the things the kids really enjoy learning about because they are on a tight schedule to cover a certain amount of material before testing time comes.  And oh, the test....the big test.   The kids get all hyped up over it.  They aren't supposed to tell anyone exactly what was on it.  The whole darn thing is ridiculous.  Everyone knows that those tests aren't an accurate indicator of how each student is doing.  And just for the record, my kids do very well on the test and generally score in the advanced levels.  This is one program I would like to see done away with and something more sensible put in it's place.

Answer 2

No i don't support the No child left behind it should go there is really no point of it,cause Its a set up

Answer 3

no way

Answer 4

I LIVE IN FL N Y SAY NO FCAT!

Answer 5

NCLB has been terrible for our schools. My daughter is in a school that has not met standards enough years in a row to be called a Program Improvement Status school.  Fines and withheld funds are are at stake.

So it must be a pretty terrible school, right?  What's going on is that there is only ONE category that has not met the standard - English for English as a Second Language students.  Every other benchmark has been met in every other category.

Here's the kicker:  our school works hard with the ESL students to learn English. When they pass their test they are moved to the general part of the population and are not counted towards the ESL benchmark anymore.  So the best students will never help pull that number up because they won't be counted in that category anymore.  What's the school supposed to do, teach them English but not graduate them?

It's way too inflexible.  The standards go up every few years and we expect ALL the schools in our district to be on PI status next year because of the rising standards.  The way the law is written there is supposed to be 100% performing kids by a certain date.  That just defies logic.  

It's not just a bureaucratic annoyance, NCLB really hurts our schools by taking months out of the curriculum and responding with punitive measures for schools like ours.

Answer 6

I think we need to stop teaching by the standardized tests and start teaching things we students (like me) want to learn.

Answer 7

NOOOO!!!!!  It needs to go.  All we are doing is teaching towards a test, we are not teaching the material anymore.  This is evident in watching teenagers not be able to make change in a store.  Kids are not learning to question things or why something is like it is.  The answers are x is y, end of question, next topic.....  We as a country are falling farther and farther behind.  This act was supposed to help the children, instead it is pushing us back.  Our high school graduation rate is around 50%!!!!!!  That is sad as a national average.  We need to stop pressuring the younger grades, make school fun again, not so much pressure.  If your 7 year old can't read chapter books, that is ok, they will not be scarred for the rest of thier life.  If little suzie isn't doing double digit addition in kindergarten they will survive.  We need to stop pushing our children so hard and they will learn, at thier pace, not what moron bush thinks they should

Answer 8

No Child Left Behind, although started with the best of interests, has now become a good example of a government program that hinders progress as opposed to facilitating it. In many school now, the months of March and April are set aside to teach students how to take the aptitude tests used by the government to judge a school's progress. So if we're spending this much time on teaching students how to take these tests, how much time is being wasted and diverted from actually giving students the tools and knowledge that they need in order to further their education? The system is designed to push schools that are struggling, to teach their students more effectively, but the problem isn't the schools or even the students, it's the parents! If the parents don't emphasize education at home, then the students carry over the same attitude that the parent has.

Answer 9

It is bullshit.

Answer 10

I resent the federal government taking away money from the states and then doling it back under a federal program with strings attached.  The federal government should be in the background advising, not dictating.

Answer 11

I believe it started out with good intentions but to me it is just ridicluous.  Teachers are now required to teach to the test.  I believe education should encompass more than merely learning how to pass a test.

Answer 12

no... when I was a child and there was no NCLB I was able to go into classes that were the level I was learning at.

For example in kindergarten I was reading/learning at a 2nd grade level... my parents didnt want me to skip two grades so i was in kindergarten but during reading, math, and language I went to a second grade classroom. you cant do that anymore. If you are learning two levels higher than everyone else in your grade... too bad... you will get dumbed down so the other children dont feel bad.

Without the NCLB I was able to meet hillary clinton in a very small group (gifted and talented class), learn at the level I should have been, I could have graduated at the end of my sophomore year of high school but was able to choose to stay, and I went to school at eight, left at ten for my junior/senior year.

Answer 13

No.

It didn't work in Texas and it just added an extra miserable batch of testing requirements that further cuts instruction time out of the school year.

The best spent money in education is money spent on keeping class size down and teacher quality up.  And then, give them the tools to do the job like decent science labs, classrooms large enough to be comfortable and plenty of access to good libraries and text books and computers.

Answer 14

no, the term "left behind" in that name, is kinda demeaning to me, because my school caused me to be dropped from the roster because i wanted to change schools because of bullies, which is not right at all. and i for one. was left behind, no-1, wel there u go 1 was left behind so the whole thing is ****

Answer 15

NO. NCLB is riiculous. children do not learn from tests. they learn by doing. Hands on activities, projects, socializing. testing is done far too much and is even begining before preschool now. Maine is trying to get rid of recess, which is terrible because it is proven that children cannot sit for any amount of time and be taught from a pre packaged curriculum. this whole thing really irks me. why can't they ask for the help of the real educators who work with these children. Bush has no idea how a child learns. h**l he can't even speak correctly himslef. we need to reform the whole education part and i would love to help do it.

Answer 16

no.  To advance a child in school before they have mastered the skills from a grade level doesn't help the child in fact it ends up hurting them because they are already at a disadvantage and will continue to behind the kids in their classes.

Instead we need to get better teacher, pay them a proper salary, and give them the supplies to teach our children.

Answer 17

It actually hinders the brighter students by focusing so much on the "standards" ♥

Answer 18

the concept for which it was created is fine but the way it was written up is not.  they are basing everything on some standardized tests and not on the overall performance of the kids.  I have talked to several teachers and they all pretty much feel the sme way.  Our problem with it is our daughter.  she is a very smart kid and stays on the honor roll and pulls off mainly a B+ average however when it comes to taking a test she struggles.  Now they have to take these STAR test for their reading level and she panicks when it is her turn so even though she is making A and B in her classes with no help they say she is only reading at a 3rd grade level and if it doesnt come up they will have to retain her next year.  If a child is doing the grade work and making good grades then how can they say she is not reading at grade level, her problem is she can read but panicks on the test and gets frustrated.  if they take overall performance then they would see this.  If they are not going to do the modifications that need to be done then they need to do away with it.

Answer 19

No I don't support it because it has failed miserably.  I don't believe in rewarding the mediocre while ignoring the kids who work hard to get and keep their grades above mediocre.