No Child Left Behind Act: Difference between revisions

| introducedby= [[John Boehner]] (R-[[Ohio|OH]])

| signedpresident= George W. Bush

 

[[File:No Child Left Behind Act.jpg|thumb|[[United States President|President]] George W. Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act]]

Prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act]] (ESEA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Frey|first1=A. J.|last2=Mandlawitz|first2=M.|last3=Alvarez|first3=M. E.|date=2012-04-01|title=Leaving NCLB Behind|url=https://academic.oup.com/cs/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/cs/cds021|journal=Children & Schools|volume=34|issue=2|pages=67–69|doi=10.1093/cs/cds021}}</ref> Its goal was to provide additional resources to low-income students, but following its enactment, the nation repeatedly fell short of meeting the law's goal of providing full educational opportunities to students.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kilty|first=Keith M.|date=2015-07-03|title=Fifty Years Later: Access to Education as an Avenue out of Poverty|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10875549.2015.1047715|journal=Journal of Poverty|volume=19|issue=3|pages=324–329|doi=10.1080/10875549.2015.1047715|s2cid=146415644 }}</ref> Fears concerning the American education system culminated with the 1983 release of a report entitled ''[[A Nation at Risk]]'', written by President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[National Commission on Excellence in Education]].<ref>Nichols, S. L., Berliner, D. C., & Noddings, N. (2007). Collateral damage: How high-stakes testing corrupts America's schools. Harvard Education Press.</ref> This report suggested that America's economic security would be severely compromised unless there were a complete reorientation of the education system and an increase in the set of academic standards that students were expected to achieve.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Floden|first1=Robert E.|last2=Richmond|first2=Gail|last3=Salazar|first3=Maria|date=2020|title=A Nation at Risk or a Nation in Progress? Naming the Way Forward Through Research in Teacher Education|journal=Journal of Teacher Education|volume=71|issue=2|pages=169–171|doi=10.1177/0022487119900628|s2cid=214511040 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Though many Republican groups historically opposed the active role of the federal government in education, lobbying efforts, public opinion, and other political developments in Washington (such as the Republican defeat in the 1996 presidential election) caused congressional Republicans to push for federal educational reforms that emphasized standardized testing and other accountability measures.<ref name=":5" /> At the time, increased attention was being paid to the state of education in the nation because prior to the [[2000 United States presidential election]], then-candidate [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] made a number of campaign promises related to bipartisan education reform.<ref>Sanger, D. E. (2001, Jan 24). [https://www.proquest.com/docview/91941192 Bush pushes ambitious education plan: Would use U.S. aid to force schools to meet standards]. New York Times (1923–).</ref><ref>Kernell. (2007). Going public: New strategies of presidential leadership (4th ed.). CQ Press.</ref><ref>Hoff. (2008). [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A190935624/OVIC?u=lom_oaklandu&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=7500571c Bush impact on schools to outlive term; NCLB law key element of President's domestic legacy]. Education Week, 28(15), 1–1.</ref>

The system of incentives and penalties set up a strong motivation for schools, districts, and states to manipulate test results. For example, schools have been shown to employ "creative reclassification" of [[high school dropouts]] (to reduce unfavorable statistics).<ref>(2004) [http://www.factcheck.org/article181.html Bush Education Ad: Going Positive, Selectively] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107021306/http://www.factcheck.org/article181.html |date=2008-01-07 }}. FactCheck.org. Retrieved June 7, 2007.</ref> For example, at [[Sharpstown High School]] in Houston, [[Texas]], more than 1,000 students began high school as freshmen, and four years later, fewer than 300 students were enrolled in the senior class.  However, none of these "missing" students from Sharpstown High were reported as dropouts.<ref name="Woods">{{cite book|last1=Meier and Woods|first1=D. and G.|year=2004|publisher=Beacon Press|location=Boston|isbn=0-8070-0459-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780807004593/page/36 36]|title=Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780807004593/page/36}}</ref>