No Child Left Behind?

Every year every child in public schools around the country take some kind of standardized test to evaluate our knowledge in math, English, and science. Students have to take these test each year for third grade till tenth grade. The scores students get in many schools determine whether or not you graduate high school or not. But are these test really valuable for students to take take every year? Since the passing of the act our ranking in science and math drastically changed, but they did not affect our ranking in English. The also only really measure a small portion of what can make education worthwhile.  These evaluations not only cause stress in many students and may also undermine their learning ability. In the past three years another type of standardized test has been implemented in many schools called PARCC, this test is very similar to other types of these test.Even Though students growth has improved since the passing of this act, the test students have to take have caused lackluster results and bad learning environments in schools.

To give background on No Child Left Behind, the act authorized a few federal education programs the are administered by the states themselves. When the law was passed in 2001 it required states to test students in math and reading in grade third through eight and students have to take it once in high school. In Massachusetts students first take the math and english MCAS in the third grade. They repeat this until eighth grade where they take science along with english and math. In most high schools in the state have their students take the MCAS in the tenth grade to determine if they are ready to graduate high school.  

The test have been proven to be very discriminatory to students that may not speak english and students with special needs. People who are not native english speakers have to take the tests before they have mastered the language. It  also make students with mental disabilities take the same test as regular students. These students receive few accommodations compared to usual ones they are given.

    It has been proven that many students experience stress when preparing or taking these test. Since the education system in this country have to now rely on standardized testing to compare student growth, it has caused teacher across the United States to focus more on the students being able to pass the test rather than slowly preparing students for them. The emphasis on external goals has created an unhealthy environment for students causing anxiety when taking any kind of test in school.

    Another downside to these tests is that it has forced teachers to have instruction time consist of mostly monotonous test prep. These test have forced teachers to only prepare students for test and provide little to no other instruction on other subjects. Teachers drill into students minds that they will never succeed in life if they do not pass this one test. It has been proven that teacher evaluations now include how their students do on the MCAS. Teachers whose students get “needs improvement and unsatisfactory” are placed on an improvement plan. And those teachers get unsatisfactory have one year to improve the scores from the bottom two to the top two categories which are “exemplary or proficient” or they will face possible removal.

Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 the implementation of these test has not improved student achievement. As a county the United States slipped from eight teeth in the world in math, to thirty-first in the world. With a very comparable drop in our raking in science and technology. But the country had no change in our level of reading. In May of 2011 the national Research Council report found no evidence of that these test we were taking were working they way they wanted them to.

    Over the past fifteen years since these test were implemented they have done good for some, but the the cons out weigh the pros in this case.. These test have done little to improve student growth over the years. They test have forced teachers to teach specific things and not other subjects that may be more important than test taking skills. Though it may have improved since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, but it does not excuse the fact that they have done nothing to help students. It has been proven that they cause stress and do not improve students learning and the teaching environment. 

Sources:

Websites:

Horowitz, Evan. "MCAS Results Are In. Are Our Students Learning? - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2016. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/19/mcas-results-are-are-our-students-learning/L8CKeMWFaOyTnr6QRCHJFI/story.html>.

Edelstein | , By Daniel. "Tests + Stress = Problems For Students - Brain Connection." Brain Connection. N.p., 12 July 2000. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2000/07/12/tests-stress-problems-for-students/>.

"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." ESEA. N.p., 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/NCLB.aspx>.

Bernardo, Richie. "2016's States with the Best & Worst School Systems." WalletHub. N.p., 1 Aug. 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/>.

By Mar. 2002, after a Surge in Testing and the Passing of NCLB, That Figure Dropped to 47%. "Standardized Tests - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. <http://standardizedtests.procon.org/>.

Photos:

McCormick, Cynthia. Mixed Bag with MCAS Scores. Digital image. Cape Cod Times. N.p., 20 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20140920/NEWS/409200327>.

Kluver, Carisa. Is Education Broken? The Problem with US Standardized Testing in Public Schools. Digital image. The Digital Media Diet. N.p., 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://digitalmediadiet.com/is-education-broken-the-problem-with-us-standardized-testing-in-public-schools/>.