No Child Left Behind (NCLB) - It's Working, but How Well

"The No Child Left Behind Act Is Working

Under NCLB We Are Measuring Results - And Holding Schools Accountable For Teaching Every Student To Read, Write, Add, And Subtract. Measuring results helps teachers spot problems early, so they can help students catch up, and gives parents valuable information about how well schools are doing.

We See Good Results From No Child Left Behind Across The Nation. Between 2003 and 2005, 46 States and the District of Columbia improved or held steady in all categories of fourth grade students tested in reading and math. In addition:

More reading progress was made by 9-year-olds between 1999 and 2004 than in the previous 28 years combined.
In math, 9-year olds and 13-year olds earned the highest scores in the history of the test.
African American and Hispanic students' reading and math scores were up in the five years ending in 2004, and these students are beginning to close the achievement gap.
We Must Build On This Success And Strengthen No Child Left Behind

Keeping America Competitive In The 21st Century Depends On No Child Being Left Behind. We must ensure our children have the skills to compete and succeed in the increasingly competitive global economy. Meeting this challenge will require us to raise the bar - and strengthen No Child Left Behind."

This message was taken from the White House web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/education/

Since I am working on my Master's degree in Education, I have to say that teachers, administrators and school districts have to jump through a lot of hoops to make NCLB a functioning reality. It is not an easy task. We've had many discussions about where NCLB works and where it fails - even with the best of intentions.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) recognizes the pros and cons of the NCLB legislation that was passed, but the law does have flaws in their opinion. One of the most fundamental issues is the lack of funding needed to support the schools who truly want to provide excellent learning environments.

To read more about AFT's position, click here: AFT