The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is a reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was adopted in 1965 to provide K-12 schools with guidelines and government monies.
The NCLB sparked debate between the federal government and education groups such as the National Education Association (NEA), which claimed that the statute was overly focused on punishment and school privatization.
The No Child Left Behind Act has several objectives, including:
These examinations must be consistent with the state’s academic content and achievement requirements:
The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act mandated that all schools hire instructors who are “well competent.” As a result, every teacher must have a bachelor’s degree, subject matter expertise, and full certification. These credentials apply to teachers who teach key academic courses.
The foundational education courses are known as core academic disciplines. These fundamental subjects are as follows:
Individual schools and school districts must develop a plan of action outlining how they will satisfy the “highly qualified” standard.
Schools must also be able to demonstrate that their teachers are highly qualified through subject evaluations or a High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE), which is used to evaluate multi-subject teachers. In exchange, these schools may be eligible for federal funds to help them meet the criteria.
In collaboration with researchers from the American Institutes for Research, RAND Corporation researchers analyzed the progress that states, districts, and schools made in implementing NCLB’s teacher qualification provisions. This was done for the 2004-2005 school year as part of a federally funded study of NCLB.
They discovered that while most instructors are highly qualified under NCLB requirements, the number of teachers who are not highly qualified is higher for teachers of special education kids, low-income students, and minority students.
They also discovered that while virtually all instructors were aware of the teacher qualification requirements, a large number of teachers were not notified of whether they were considered highly qualified under NCLB. Thus, they remained in the dark about their status.
Based on these findings, the researchers identify critical issues that, if solved, could improve the effectiveness of NCLB’s teacher certification criteria.
To be highly competent, teachers must have a bachelor’s degree and full certification, but states select how they can demonstrate topic understanding in each core subject they teach.
Under NCLB, all states now have standards in place to determine whether teachers are highly qualified; however, how they determine the adequacy of teachers’ knowledge varies. States, for example, may employ different tests to measure instructors’ knowledge, and even those that use the same test may establish different passing scores.
Under NCLB, the majority of teachers are well-qualified.
Overall, most U.S. public school teachers were classified as highly qualified in 2004-2005, however, the data reflects how teachers self-reported their qualification status.
Approximately three-quarters of instructors across all states reported being well qualified. A quarter of all teachers were unsure whether they were highly competent.
The researchers discovered that 92 percent of these teachers had educational and professional qualities comparable to teachers rated highly competent.
However, there are inequities.
Despite most teachers being well qualified under NCLB, there are significant disparities in how they are allocated among geographical areas, classroom styles, and schools. In 2004-2005, for example, five states and the District of Columbia claimed that highly qualified teachers taught 75 percent or fewer of classes.
Under NCLB, a higher proportion of poorly trained instructors teach special education and LEP classes. Only 39% of elementary school special education teachers, 61% of middle school special education teachers, and 53% of high school special education teachers reported being highly qualified.
According to the researchers, high-poverty and high-minority schools had a higher percentage of teachers who were not highly qualified under NCLB than low-poverty and low-minority schools. For example, teachers who were not well qualified were three times more likely to teach in high-minority schools than in low-minority schools.
Furthermore, highly trained teachers in high-poverty and high-minority schools tended to have less teaching experience than those in low-poverty and low-minority schools (highly qualified teachers in disadvantaged schools were more likely to have three or fewer years of experience than their counterparts).
Furthermore, when compared to instructors in low-poverty and suburban schools, highly competent teachers in high-poverty and rural schools were less likely to have a degree in their profession.
Most instructors (83 percent) said they were aware of their state’s standards for highly trained teachers.
Even though states, districts, and schools used a variety of strategies to communicate state requirements to teachers and inform them of their status, nearly half of all general education teachers and more than half of all special education teachers reported that they were not notified of their qualification status for 2004-2005.
These findings are significant because teachers who were not highly qualified may have taken actions to become highly qualified, such as participating in further professional development, if they had been informed of their status.
Parents of pupils can learn about their child’s teachers’ qualifications by visiting the school and obtaining the information. The information provided will pertain to the teacher’s certification, college degree, and whether or not they are on a provisional status.
Instructor aides who do not fulfill the highly qualified qualifications are not permitted to provide instruction and must be supervised by a competent teacher. As a result, if your child is being taught by an unqualified teacher’s helper, you should inquire about the problem with the school administration.
The No Child Left Behind Act’s goals are high standards and expectations for all children. Many people agree that NCLB is a positive step. The NEA, on the other hand, argues that the act focuses too much on:
An expert government attorney can advise parents on teacher quality and if a school is in compliance with NCLB. Furthermore, an expert attorney can aid parents in locating alternatives to the school where their child is enrolled.
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