No child left behind act: provisions and view points

“ Education is an important medium of acquiring essential knowledge and skills”. This Act focuses on improving some faults in the current education scenario. One issue which needs to be resolved: Schools and Colleges started focusing more on the brighter student to increase their department name. Due to this students who needs individual support are left behind. If we compare today’s education with the education when there “ Gurukuls” every student at that time equally focused and supported by the teacher. Teachers main focus was to enhance every student rather than on the particular individual which is just different or opposite with todays education..

The No Child Left Behind Act was established in US in year 2001 which actually rearranges the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which helps the disadvantaged students. The main focus of this Act is to implement standard based education which sets high standards and establish measurable goals which could improve individual outcomes in education. This Act put pressure on bad teachers and weak administrators.

Provisions of This Act

No Child Left Behind Act requires every single government funded school get administrative fundings to the control giving institutionalized based test yearly to every one of the understudies. Schools who gets financing by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act must gain Adequate Yearly Ground (AYP) in test scores. Schools that misses this AYP in second successive year, they are named as needing improvement. States must make satisfactory yearly progress goals reliable with the accompanying necessities of the law. States must build up their sufficient yearly progress that has quantifiable targets for the improved accomplishment for every one of the understudies and particularly for the financially impeded understudies, understudies with incapacities. The goal must be define with objective of accomplishing capable level for the understudy. Sufficient yearly progress must be principally founded on the state evaluations. The Act expects states to give profoundly qualified educators to all students(here each state sets his claim measures regarding qualified instructors) guarantees all understudies arrives at capability.

Author’s View Points

The main flaw in position to this act towards schools testing is seeing tests as a primary mechanism to improve instruction. There are many reasons students do well in their tests and sometimes they perform poor due to some reasons, using this results the student cannot be judged. Poverty, Parental engagement, culture and community are other variables that must be addressed if we seriously talk about improving the quality of education. When tests are seen as the main instrument of judgement as this Act has done, without a prescription for growth then the tests lose any academic value. This tests are not the problem in and of themselves, how they are perceived and used is a problem. Standardized tests actually measures where students are at, and not where they started. Tests should be used as transformation and not like as a political weapon that simply labels schools as “ in need of improvement”.

Argument: I strongly is in the favor of this argument that the author is trying to say here. Using just this tests a student cannot be judged about what he can actually do. As author here says that due to some reasons a student has not been able to perform well in the tests, so we mark the student as an average student but this is actually wrong which this act concludes a school as in need of improvemet using the test results. A student should always be judged based on his practical skills not by his assement data. No Child Left behind Act mandate to make all the students proficient as measured by the standardized tests which actually resulted in more time spent on test preparation. Teachers and parents widely disliked this push. Some research says that lower achieving student do better academically when they attend classes with higher achieving peers, but this ignores the actual need of the higher achieving peers. The groupings should be like more flexible than the ongoing rigid “ tracking” of students in decades past. The children should be identified based on their abilities rather than the standardized test scores, so that from every neighbourhood, race and class have equal opportunity. Argument: I strongly favor’s this argument that the author makes here like all focus has been shifted to the tests rather than gaining the practical skills. According to me a student pursuing more practical knowledge is far more better in place of highly scoring student(having say less practical knowledge as he has focused on his tests). Author here also says about the grouping of students, this grouping should be done on the basis of his abilities rather than his scores. This Act actually emphasis more on test scores and does not appreciate other achievements. If we talk about some great people who has achieved great standards like Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and many more were more focused towards their practical knowledge rather than their academic results. Here author says that test scores has been improved since 2002 due to this act. Aside from this, test scores of students belonging to minority groups have also improved since then, which is a good sign for the future. It is good to know for this act that this act provides quality education to the children’s from low income families. Argument: I disagree here with the term the author uses like it will be a good sign for the future as focuses on the test scores as a key to success rather than the knowledge and the other practical skills, which is indeed much more needed then the just test scores. If we talk about ethically schools must focus on developing the moral principles rather than barely focusing on the test based results.

My View Points

In todays bread oriented education their is indeed a lack or 100% deficiency of brain oriented education. If we talk about the further life of a student he is much needed for this brain oriented education rather then the current test based education or bread oriented education which actually focuses on how to earn a bread. If we talk about an example of a student who failed in his 12th class and has committed suicide after his results, here it simply sees that he was much needed for a brain oriented education

If we talk about “ Gurukuls” as i had mentioned above which were the the ancient schools, there the teacher focuses on every individual to develop his abilities and tries to develop his brain, increasing his practical skills which indeed were actually needed in his life. Teacher tries to develop moral principles in him and try to develop virtues in student. There was more focus by the teacher on the student on becoming a good person in his life. Now if we compare this with the current education system and more focus this No Child Left Behind Act it focuses only on the academic results rather than his abilities.” I have never let school to interfere in my education – by Mark Twain” this school is the current school education.

Students will be more interested and tend to do a work which is of their interest and developing their skills rather than simply focusing on the tests. This Act also hides the student’s own interest by having standardized test based education.

In this Act fundings were made accordingly to results by the schools, this also puts pressure on the school to have good test results rather than what we say proper teaching. In this Act they also says there is a focus on every individual by the teacher, but here the focus which the teacher pressurely puts is the test based focus which is indeed of no use. Fundings provided by the government is a good thing but on the account of the scores is a wrong thing.

The another flaw of this act is the narrow focus, this Act in simple words if we say teaches children how to solve multiple choice questions. If we talk in a broader way the role of schools should be in developing the knowledge and skills of the student that will enable them merely to succeed in labour market but to be good citizens, to live rich and fulfilling lives, and to contribute to the flourishing of others.

This Act was actually passed in US but it is implemented in india as well not same as about fundings but in terms of western education test based analysis replacing our own golden “ Gurukuls”.

This Act has some pros also like it helped the lower income family children’s to have the quality education which they were not able to get it.

According to me the Act should be like it focuses on the moral principles of the student and try to improve and see his interest and should enhance it as this is the primary thing which is needed in our life inspite of the marks which is a secondary thing.