NCLB

One topic that always seems to surface in my education classes is the No Child Left Behind Act. Created by George W. Bush, the idea of the act is to assure that all children (regardless of economic status, race, or location) receive an equal, full education. While NCLB succeeded addressing issues such as violence and the important role of guidance counselors, there is still much reform that needs to be done to make this act as successful as it could be.

AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) is part of the problem. NCLB requires that the schools are "graded" and have a yearly report card to see how well the school is "succeeding". However, the problem with this report card is that it is based solely on test scores. The scores given to children in grades 3-8 determine how well a school is performing and if it can stay open. After only a few years of having a low AYP, a school can shut down simply because their students did not do well on these tests. While I do believe it is a great concept to be able to assess how well schools are doing, a yearly test should not be the sole factor.

Honestly, I could go on forever, but as you begin to take more college education classes, political issues like this will come up often. Since most of us will be working in public schools, the government's decisions will affect much of our lives. Therefore, we need to be fully aware of the current issues in the American school system and need to do all we can to reform in the interest of our students.