Policy Outcomes
As states move forward with education reforms, some provisions of No Child Left Behind, the most current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act stand in the way of their progress. Although NCLB was started for national student achievement, unintended consequences of NCLB have reinforced the wrong behaviors in attempting to strengthen public education. NCLB has created incentives for states to lower their standards, focusing on absolute scores, rather than recognizing growth and progress; and have produced a one-size-fits-all series of interventions for schools that miss their goals (Bracey, 2008).
The President has called on Congress to work across to help fix the law even as his Administration offers solutions …show more content…
The Department of Education points to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, showing improved student achievement in reading and math (Bracey, 2008). More progress was made by nine-year-olds in reading in the last five years than in the previous 28 years combined. America's nine-year-olds posted the best scores in reading (since 1971) and math (since 1973) in the history of the report (Bracey, 2008). America's 13-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test ever recorded. Reading and math scores for black and Hispanic nine-year-olds has reached an all-time high. Achievement gaps in reading and math between white and black nine-year-olds and between white and Hispanic nine-year-olds are at an all-time low (Bracey, 2008). Forty-three states and the District of Columbia were either improved academically or held steady in all categories; fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade math (Bracey, 2008).
However, now on its 10-year anniversary, there is consensus that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is broken (Bracey, 2008). In early 2012, the House Education and the Workforce Committee introduced a draft of the Student Success Act as part of a piecemeal strategy to rewrite No Child Left Behind. The debate over how to reform NCLB has generated a number of proposals from both houses of Congress and the Obama Administration, but ideas about how to rewrite the law differ greatly. No new law replacing NCLB has been implemented (Bracey,
As states move forward with education reforms, some provisions of No Child Left Behind, the most current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act stand in the way of their progress. Although NCLB was started for national student achievement, unintended consequences of NCLB have reinforced the wrong behaviors in attempting to strengthen public education. NCLB has created incentives for states to lower their standards, focusing on absolute scores, rather than recognizing growth and progress; and have produced a one-size-fits-all series of interventions for schools that miss their goals (Bracey, 2008).
The President has called on Congress to work across to help fix the law even as his Administration offers solutions …show more content…
The Department of Education points to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, showing improved student achievement in reading and math (Bracey, 2008). More progress was made by nine-year-olds in reading in the last five years than in the previous 28 years combined. America's nine-year-olds posted the best scores in reading (since 1971) and math (since 1973) in the history of the report (Bracey, 2008). America's 13-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test ever recorded. Reading and math scores for black and Hispanic nine-year-olds has reached an all-time high. Achievement gaps in reading and math between white and black nine-year-olds and between white and Hispanic nine-year-olds are at an all-time low (Bracey, 2008). Forty-three states and the District of Columbia were either improved academically or held steady in all categories; fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade math (Bracey, 2008).
However, now on its 10-year anniversary, there is consensus that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is broken (Bracey, 2008). In early 2012, the House Education and the Workforce Committee introduced a draft of the Student Success Act as part of a piecemeal strategy to rewrite No Child Left Behind. The debate over how to reform NCLB has generated a number of proposals from both houses of Congress and the Obama Administration, but ideas about how to rewrite the law differ greatly. No new law replacing NCLB has been implemented (Bracey,