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 What’s not to love about the idea of improved proficiency scores among America’s elementary school students? The idea of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) sounds absolutely brilliant and wonderfully compassionate.
The idea behind NCLB is to raise the expectations for both teachers and students. Still, a laudable notion. When a classroom full of students average less than the expected proficiency rate in any given year they are given an academic warning.
The teacher is expected to accomplish two objectives and many feel inadequate to the task, but continue working to reach the following two goals.
- Mainstream all students. This means students who cannot read or may require special services are also engaged in mastering proficiency skills at the same level as all other students.
- Improve overall performance annually. This means that there may be times when more classroom time is taken in order to help students master these proficiency requirements.
What seems to be happening is that teachers are often teaching to the tests, at least for a period of time. A larger percentage of classroom time is being used to improve skills needed to pass the No Child Left Behind proficiency tests. In some ways it’s like an athlete preparing for the big game.
When there remains a big push to improve scores teachers have adopted the role of review and repeat. This is a teaching method that has yielded positive results throughout the history of education.
This may be viewed as an exercise in mental triathlon training. It may be grueling work, but there will be moments of personal and corporate satisfaction when the work is finished and goals have been accomplished.
Teachers work hard to balance the objectives of No Child Left Behind with the role of improving every other area of individual performance among their students. This requires the assistance of paraprofessionals, support staff and especially parents. In fact, there may not be a more noted time in recent memory when parents were more needed in the role of educating children.
Teachers do not want to see their students fail and the extra work needed to gain proficiency in the No Child Left Behind testing provides a boost to ensure that teachers and students work together for success.
Perhaps some of the side benefits of this type of testing are improved student study habits, the necessary role of review in an individual’s work and working with others to reach an impressive goal.
No Child Left Behind is about personal and corporate objectives.
It forces children to work hard and cooperate with teachers to reach a goal they would not otherwise have attempted mastering skills they may have previously thought unnecessary.
The world’s citizens are doing a great job in preparing students academically for a world that seems to be in constant change. No Child Left Behind is one way America has responded to the same desire.
The good news is in many cases proficiency test scores are improving providing a positive way to view the success of preparing students for the many academic challenges they will face.
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