As mentioned before, The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is very complex and made up of many parts. However, there need to be some major changes done to this act in order for this or any education act to be successful. There are numerous reasons why this act is ineffective and needs improvement in order to have a positive impact on the education of students.
The NCLB Act has caused a lot of problems within school districts nationwide. Some of these problems include school drop-out rates increasing, the number of teachers decreasing, more emphasis on testing, some classes being cut from the curriculum, and it expects students to excel at the same level without taking into account the different learning paces and styles of students.
Some people feel that the NCLB Act has been beneficial to school districts in setting standards for the school’s curriculum on what has to be taught. Also, some parents feel that NCLB allows them to see the school districts report card and how they are scoring compared to the Adequate Yearly Progress standards. By seeing these report cards, parents feel they can make better decisions on which school to send their child, or if their district is not meeting adequate yearly progress, the parents can transfer their son/daughter to a different district. Another quality occurrence that came from the implementation of NCLB was the amount of funding that the schools received. Most school districts have received more money for their schools to improve their education system.
While President Bush may have had good intentions when putting the No Child Left Behind Act into place, it needs to also be altered to meet the needs of the students and teachers within the school systems. It is obvious that President Bush wanted to improve the education of students across the United States when he signed the NCLB Act into effect. President Bush felt that too many students were not as proficient as needed be and acted on his fear that children were not receiving a quality education. The NCLB Act has improved test scores in the major subjects of reading and math since the NCLB Act has been in effect.
In conclusion, the NCLB Act had good intentions but needs vast improvements and changes in order to be effective within the school systems in the United States. Although some people feel that the NCLB Act is improving the education system, it is also causing a lot of problems and concern.
