PROS
Accountability standards are set and measured annually by each state to foster educational growth and achievement. All results are also annually reported to parents.
Standards are set for teacher qualifications.
NCLB links state academic content with student educational outcomes, and requires school improvement be implemented using "scientific-based research" methods in the classroom, parent programs, and teacher development courses.
NCLB emphasizes reading, writing and math.
NCLB measures educational status and growth by ethnicity, and helps to close the achievement gap between white and minority students.
NCLB requires schools to focus on providing quality education to students who are often underserved, including children with disabilities, from low-income families, non-English speakers, as well as African-Americans and Latinos.
Parents are provided annually with a detailed report of student achievement, and explanations are provided of achievement levels.
DEFINITION
The primary purpose of NCLB is to ensure that students in every public school achieve important learning goals while being educated in safe classrooms by well-prepared teachers. To increase student achievement, the law requires that school districts assume responsibility for all students reaching 100% student proficiency levels within 12 years on tests assessing important academic content. Furthermore, NCLB requires schools to close academic gaps between economically advantaged students and students who are from different economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds as well as students with disabilities.
To measure progress, NCLB requires that states administer tests to all public school students. The states set proficiency standards, called adequate yearly progress, that progressively increase the percentage of students in a district that must meet the proficiency standard. If a school district does not meet these proficiency levels, the law mandates that requirements be met and corrective actions applied.
No Child Left Behind has required a major shift in the ways that teachers, administrators, and state department of education personnel think about public schooling. NCLB is a controversial law that places educators under growing pressure to increase the achievement of all students and to narrow the test score gap between groups of students (Anthes, 2002). Moreover, educators will now be held responsible for bringing about these changes. Administrators and teachers will need to understand effective research-based instructional strategies and be able to evaluate student’s instructional progress to make more effective instructional decisions. Clearly, NCLB puts more pressure on the public education system to increase student achievement for all students (Anthes, 2002).