This chapter goes into depth about the no child left behind act. There are two big issues with the no child left behind act; privatization and teaching to the test. Privatization was the idea with a goal of making students performance and grades much better. It didn’t exactly accomplish this goal. The idea of privatization brings in the burden of bias because companies would put more money into the schools that they would benefit the most. So even after all this, schools would not be under the same control really because just like now certain schools would receive more donations and monies according to their own standards. The idea of privatization could work and is a possible solution to the problem but many were looking for a quick fix which this was not. None of the problems in the education system can be fixed in one day.
This idea of privatization brought about excessive testing in elementary and middle school, mainly in grades 3-8. They have not come up with a solid plan that can accurately assess a students abilities and progress. This idea of teaching to the test has taken the control out of the teachers hands and put it all in the curriculum. Teachers are now forced to teach their students the contents of a mandated test instead of other topics. A lot of information is left out and students are just taught how to get to the answer instead of having a full understanding of the material. These tests should not be the only deciding factor in whether a student has fully succeeded or not. The teacher should have a large portion of the say because they are the only consistent figure in a students life for that year and can monitor and track the real progress of the student. Although the no child left behind act has raised graduation rates, it has also shown that many students do not have a full understanding of the material thrown their way. Do you think that teachers should have a louder voice in the assessment of students or should it be left up to a mandatory test?
