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POLICY PAPER ANALYSIS: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

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Policy Analysis Paper: No Child Left Behind Act

SW 4710

Ivy Schihl 10/23/2013

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Introduction In this society today, many Americans are faced with social problems within our government that affect their everyday lives. These social problems are very hard to change because government has the main control of many of the issues such as childrens welfare, womens rights, etc. The ideas of what types of educational knowledge students should receive while in K-12 schooling has always been a controversial issue. The rate of teens dropping out of school has greatly increased with the idea in their head that they can just obtain a GED or go to a secondary education school. The idea of education is not taken as seriously as it should be and the laws put in place should have control on these issues and help educate our youth to become productive U.S. citizens. Today I will focus on the social problem of child education. History Educational inequality dates back to slavery in the south. When working, slaves were deliberately not allowed by their masters to practice their education whether it be reading, writing, etc and punished when found practicing education. If a slave was found trying to educate them, the slave was beaten and sometimes killed. The idea behind this was that the masters of the plantations felt that the slaves were property and that did not need any type of education for the work that they did. Slavery gradually got better and eventually got diminished but this does not mean that racial inequality was depleted. Racial inequality still existed throughout the United States when it came to everything. Blacks and whites had to go to separated schools. When blacks and whites were in the same schools, they were in different classrooms. Blacks and whites had to use different bathrooms and drinking fountains, and blacks had to sit in the back of the buses if even allowed on the bus. Although racial discrimination does still occur, many poor children are discriminated against when it comes to their education.

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In the previous societies, it was viewed that because you are poor you dont deserve good education. The Brown v. Board of Education cases eventually put an end to this type of discrimination. All of the five cases that were included within the Brown v. Board of Education cases fought to end racial segregation in schools. A variety of legal issues were brought up within these cases but the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and this violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution( U.S. Courts Doc., p.2). The idea of segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children and thus such a system should not be legally permissible. Based on the arguments presented, the Supreme Court outlawed the racial segregation in public schools and determined that the separate but equal doctrine was unconstitutional. Shortly after the Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by President Johnson shortly after John F. Kennedys passing. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, gave federal government the right to end segregation in the Southand it prohibited segregation in public places. A public place was anywhere that received any form of federal (tax) funding (most places). This stopped lawyers homing in on the private places issue. This act tried to cover every aspect that some lawyer might use to avoid implementing this act.an Equal Employment Commission was createdfederal funding would not be given to segregated schools (note that these had been banned in 1954, ten years previous!)any company that wanted federal business (the biggest spender of money in American business) had to have a pro-civil rights charter. Any segregationist company that applied for a federal contact would not get it (Davidson, 1982, p. 50). The next act to assist with educational equality was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This was a Great Society program

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enacted in 1965 that allocates federal funding for primary and secondary school education and forbs the establishment of a national curriculum. This Act also provided a mechanism to hold schools accountable and increase equality in education nationally (Davidson, 1982, p.52). The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is focused to protect the children of lowincome families, children that are neglected, migrant children, and homeless children. The act does so by providing the school with the welfare they need to assist the child. An example of the type of welfare that could possibly be given to the school would be free or reduced lunch. Currently, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is replaced by the No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act is the main act I will be focusing on within my paper because this act is the most controversial and most recent act of all the acts listed above. The No Child Left Behind Act was introduced on March 22nd, 2001 and passed on March 23rd, 2001 in the city of Washington by George W. Bush. It was not made a public law until January 1st, 2002. The purpose of this act was to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments ( H.R. 1 (107th, 2001 p. 16 ). According to the legislation, too many of the neediest children are being left behind; too many are attending failing or unsafe schools; too many receive poor teaching and are performing well below potential; and too many are leaving school altogether(Meier, 2004, p.3).The No Child Left Behind Act initiated a major expansion of federal influence over public K-12 education and was intended to increase the accountability of public school systems and individual public schools in order to improve the achievement outcomes of all students. This policy was dictated by federal statue and remains to be a federal issue. Population Affected

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The at risk populations that have been affected by the No Child Left Behind Act were those children attending K-12 schools, as well as teachers, and parents of these children. The children of K-12 schools include disabled as well as mentally ill children, children of every race and culture as well. Although the intentions were good with the No Child Left Behind Act, there were many problems with the No Child Left Behind Act. According to Meier and Wood, the No Child Left Behind Act inadequately funded and equipped schools (Meier, 2004 p. xix). Through the use of local educational agency grants, schools were provided with money to make the changes needed to make the school programs more equal for those less fortunate. Schools only qualified for these grants if they increased their testing scores between the years of 2005 and 2oo6. Even with the funding given, in most states, access to public education is limited by ones neighborhood. The effect is that wealthier families have access to schools with more robust funding than do their poorer neighbors. Segregation by social class is the rule, not the exception (Meier, 2004 p.6 ). The No Child Left Behind Act was significantly underfunded and schools had to follow all federal guidelines put in place or they would lose their federal funding. Most states were forced to make budget cuts in the form of elective classes such as art and music as well as cutting the experience of children being able to go on field trips. The bill also intended on focusing more on test scores for all groups of students and training teachers to be more qualified for their positions. Schools today are now more focused on the primary classes such as math, science, and English instead of elective courses. In the state of Michigan, the focuses of that aspect of the bill have just recently been put in place. As of 2010, the testing scores of the ACT and SAT have been pushed to increase and students have a limited number of elective courses they can take throughout their high school years. Children in elementary school are now learning more than just the basic letters and numbers. Children in grades as low as Kindergarten

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are now beginning to write sentences and learning how to do more extensive math and science assignments. With such a focus placed on test scores, children are now learning to do well on tests and not learning the basic knowledge they should have behind certain subjects. The No Child Left Behind Act also set very high teacher qualifications which has led to the lack of qualified teachers throughout the country. Besides for the basic teaching degree, the No Child Left Behind act required teachers to have a college degree on one or more specific subject. Teachers in the state of Michigan dont make as much money as they should, and the bill makes it harder to find teachers that are willing to take more courses to continue their career. The No Child Left Behind Act also does not take in the account of a childs home life and the effects that their home life may take on the child. Even though the research literature in education has long identified personal and family characteristics as risk factors regarding academic achievement, for instance, policy stipulations do not address the impact of nutrition, adequate housing, safe communities, or adequate health care on a child's ability to attend and excel in school beyond implying that even students in difficult situations should be expected to perform academically. When families do not have access to such services and conditions, children are more likely to struggle academically. Personal and family problems such as abuse and a lack of parental supervision are risk factors for underachievement. In addition, family mobility, often a result of lack of steady housing or employment, is negatively correlated with school success (LaganaRiordan ,2009, p.137). If most children within a school district have bad home lives, then these children will have a harder time thriving in the school atmosphere. This can lead to schools not receiving the funding they desperately need and these schools cant get ahead to give these children a better understanding on the information being provided. If a child doesnt have someone to help them learn things at home, then the child is going to do poorly on tests or

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anything else given to him/her. The cycle can just continue and the schools will not have a good reputation as far as educating standards go. Although there seem to be many cons to the No Child Left Behind Act, there are many pros that are working for at risk populations. Although there is a lack of qualified teachers throughout the country, the No Child Left Behind Act ensures that children are receiving education from teachers that have not only one degree but two or more. By making teachers more qualified in what they do, students can feel more confident about their learning and they can ask specific questions to those specific subject teachers. Although the budget cuts being made have taken away some elective courses, the No Child Left Behind Act places more emphasis on math, reading, and writing which are mandatory skills that children need to have to succeed in the world. The No Child Left Behind Act ensures that minorities and inequalities no longer exist within the classrooms and no child is treated any different because of their racial, social, or demographic status. In todays society, parents are now able to review a program online and see how their child is doing in school as well as their attendance record. If it wasnt for the No Child Left Behind Act, parents would not be able to see every little assignment that their child is doing and how they are doing. After listing what works and what does not work within the No Child Left Behind Act, I feel that the No Child Left Behind Act does work for the at risk populations. It is good for children to have set requirements in school and those requirements are equal throughout the country which makes it so all students are on the same path. There is no excuse to have differences and this bill makes sure there are none. I understand that all bills have their flaws, but the No Child Left Behind Act does an excellent job in providing children with the best education possible. Although the best funding is not being given, schools should have no excuse in lacking the education of children. The

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education of children is crucial in the K-12 years and this education guides children into the people our society needs to prosper. The current policy has been in place now for twelve years and the likelihood of this bill going anywhere anytime soon is highly unlikely. According to Deborah White, Supporters of NCLB agree with the mandate for accountability to educational standards, and believe emphasis on test results will improve the quality of public education for all students. Proponents also believe that NCLB initiatives will further democratize U.S. education, by setting standards and providing resources to schools, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disabilities or language spoken. (White, 2012, p. 1). Between Republicans and Democrats, Republicans are more supporting of the No Child Left Behind Act. President George W. Bush was a Republican himself and when the No Child Left Behind Act was suggested, the Republicans named it as the Student Success Act. Although the Republicans favored it, the Democrats called this act the Letting Students Down Act. Those that were against the No Child Left Behind Act included all major teachers' unions which feel that the No Child Left Behind Act was not effective in high schools. They felt this way because the results of the standardized tests after the No Child Left Behind Act was similar to those before the act was put in place. The democrats felt that the government should stay out of the educational aspect because it erodes the state and local control over the educational area. Interview During my interview with Representative Candace S. Miller, who is a State Representative of Michigans 10th Congressional District, I was surprised to find out how much she is working with Michigans educational policies. Representative Candace Miller stated, On July 19th, my colleagues and I in the U.S. House of Representatives took an important step

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toward correcting the imbalance in education policy by passing the Student Success Act of 2013(H. R. 5) on July 19th, 2013 by a vote of 221 to 207( Miller, 2013). She then began to explain to me that the Student Success Act would allow the states and school districts to implement measures of student achievement that reflect real world conditions and needs. From the research done on the cons of the No Child Left Behind Act, it was great to hear that changes were being made to better the educational aspect of childrens lives. The No Child Left Behind Act seemed to inadequately benefit those students that were actually in need of a better education but also benefited those lives of students that were fortunate. Representative Miller also stressed more on the negatives of the act rather than the positives. When I was doing research, I noticed that most Republicans were for the No Child Left Behind Act, so I was shocked to find out that Representative Miller was not really fond of it. Representative Miller also stressed to me the concern of our minorities not receiving the quality education that they need. Representative Miller stated, Despite the previous laws that have been put into play to protect our minorities, it is quite clear that these laws have not been doing much of their job. Despite the excellent intentions that the No Child Left Behind act had, the end result of this legislation was a one-sizefits all federal regulation of education that did not benefit the population in need. Conclusion Through my research I have noticed the affects that the No Child Left Behind Act has had on many. Not only did it affect the students, the lives of teachers and parents were also impacted because more emphasis on learning the basic subjects was brought upon them. As well as these changes, the ways of doing certain subjects such as math and sciences have become more difficult to prepare students for their state standardized tests. I believe that with the changes made to the No Child Left Behind Act with the new Student Success Act will help

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benefit the populations in need a lot more. With tweaking the ideas of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Student Success Act will be able to increase the results on standardized tests as well as students success. The youths of todays society should be able to go to school and succeed with the idea of bettering themselves to have a productive future. The Student Success Act should help with that as well as give children the motivation to want to do better with their educations and become successful adults in our society.

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Reference Page Davidson, M. M., & Anderson, G. R. (1982). A Title VI view of child welfare issues. Child Welfare, 61(1), 49-54. Deoborah, W. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://usliberals.about.com/od/education/i/NCLBProsCons.htm Elementary and secondary education act [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://education.laws.com/elementary-and-secondary-education-act Jorgensen, M. A., & Hoffmann, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/D8E33AAE-BED1-4743-98A1BDF4D49D7274/0/HistoryofNCLB_Rev2_Final.pdf Lagana-Riordan, C. C., & Aguilar, J. P. (2009). What's missing from No Child Left Behind? A policy analysis from a social work perspective.Children & Schools, 31(3), 135-145.

Meier, D. (2004). Many children left behind. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. Miller, S. C. (2013, October 6). U.S. Representative. (I. Schihl, Interviewer) U.S. Congress, (2001). H.r. 1 (107th): No child left behind act of 2001 (H.R. 1 (107th)). Retrieved from website: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hr1/text

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