Officially signed into law in January 2001, No Child Left Behind came into being with support from both sides of the political aisle. Meant to help reform the state of American education by using standardized tests to more accurately measure student progress, it unfortunately became a bigger hassle for educators and students alike.
In a recent article about the importance of the Department of Education, I mentioned how, besides a few policies, the department is beneficial for American students. No Child Left Behind would be one of the policies that should be axed.
Thankfully, it seems we might be heading down such a path if President Obama’s recent ideas concerning No Child Left Behind are any indication.
Obama’s administration outlined last Friday how states would be able to get relief from some of the aspects of No Child Left Behind, should they apply for it and agree to follow Obama’s educational reform ideas.
One of the biggest parts of No Child Left Behind which the President and his administration are offering to waive for states is the upcoming 2014 deadline concerning proficiency levels. According to the act, 100 percent of students are meant to be testing on their grade level in reading and math in just more than a year.
Even if such a goal was possible – and really, the idea of every single student in the country passing is extremely optimistic and naïve – it certainly isn’t going to happen in accordance with No Child Left Behind’s deadline.
Last month Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated 82 percent of schools are failing to meet their Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, an essential part in No Child Left Behind which helps guide schools to eventually reaching the 2014 deadlines.
While the numbers may not have been as high as Duncan stated nationwide – an exaggeration undoubtedly meant to help illustrate how unrealistic the law is – there is evidence which shows some states are just as bad as Duncan says.
Editorial Projects in Education, a source for educational news since the late 1950s, compiled the failure rate of some states to reach their AYP. States like Florida, Missouri and New Mexico are all above an 80 percent failure rate, at 89, 81.9 and 87 percent, respectively.
Clearly, the 2014 deadlines are not going to be met.
Yet all this debate fails to deal with the fundamental flaw of No Child Left Behind — standardized testing.
I’ve stated this several times, but the situations illustrated during standardized testing simply aren’t replicated in other scenarios. It doesn’t test one’s knowledge so much as it does their ability to take a test.
It will take some time to see how large the effects of No Child Left Behind are when it comes to teaching. During the past decade, teachers have moved more towards “teaching for the test,” ignoring parts of the curriculum that won’t be part of the standardized exams.
While that may be a horrible practice, it simply has to be done sometimes, mainly due to how much a teacher’s employment and pay are dependent on it.
Ultimately, while No Child Left Behind may have been crafted with the best of intentions, it has been counterproductive in the end.
Hopefully President Obama’s recent changes to the law are signs of its impending demise. It’s one thing we can certainly leave behind.
 
Zachary Davis is a 20-year-old history junior from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_zdavis.
 
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Contact Zachary Davis at [email protected]