How Do You Feel About "No Child Left Behind"?

I know what you mean. I have been experiencing that with my daughter. She does well on those tests, but over all she does poorly in her subjects. They don't take the time to teach the kids like they did when I was in school. It's all about meeting the criteria of the test scores. they spend weeks preparing for these tests, with intensive studies and quizzes and so on, but what about everything else?

I think the No Child Left Behind act is a total joke....They aren't helping the children..they're just pushing them through the system REGARDLESS of the childs level..They are also OVERLOADING the kids with work etc etc and ALL OF IT (the overloading and the b.s NCLB Act) are about money bottomline....I think its disgusting to be perfectly honest with you..I know a boy who, thanks to the No Child Act, kept getting pushed through to the next grade EVEN THOUGH at the age of 11 HE COULDNT FREAKIN READ!! makes me sick...Just like taking away recess makes me sick....I think the school system over here (in the U.S) is a joke....in NY it is at least..its pathetic...

No child left behind is a big joke! My youngest daughter, took all the classes, and passes all of her classes, then her Senior year comes along, and she passes everything that is 'taught' day to day, and then took the TEST, missed passing it by 3 points, and she was not the only one, 1/2 of her senior class, and due to this they could not re-take the test until last June! and they were not allowed to walk across the stage at graduation. If you think this was not a huge disappointment to all of those students! Teachers have no time to 'teach' anymore because they are too busy teaching the test. You can teach anyone to memorize if you go over it enough times. It has major flaws, and give credit where credit is due.....we can thank Pres. Bush ....again!!!

Bad solution to a near non existant problem. While the literacy is a good thing, the worst thing is what you described a lack of science and technology. There is supposed to be a focus on math with the mandate, you may want to check into your daughter's school. Something maybe up. Unfortunately JaLuv the dumbing down has been going on for decades. Its seen in test scores throughout the years and especially when compared to other countries. Plus societal stigma against education (on several fronts) with some apathy also caused this large downward spiral of dumb-down. I think the whole education systems a big flaw and needs a rethink. Just go see some of the test scores of other countries compared to here. Pitiful, and worse yet there are people still crying "more money"! That's BEEN DONE for 20, 30, 40 years and it seems like the crop is getting dumber each year. Rethink is definitely needed.

I agree with you. I can't understand why kids in high school have to take 1-2 years of a foreign language, but only 1 of math. And they aren't taught things like balancing a check book or interest rates or mortgage rates etc. But they are required to learn a foreign language. My kids didn't get to take a class about how to write a resume or put together a spread sheet, but they did have to take a poetry class. They were required to take 2 years of history about other countries, but only 1/2 semester of American history in their senior year. Think I'd home school now!

The "No Child Left Behind" rule is crap. I watch kids struggle with school and get pushed ahead to the next grade anyway, where they fall further behind. It affects their self esteem and alot of them get teased by peers. I think each child should go at their own pace and not be placed into a higher grade when they haven't mastered the basics of the last grade.When this happens, children need extra help which costs money. Tutoring and IEP's.And lots of frustration for everyone involved.

I agree with what many of the people before me said..."NCLB" is a big joke. It is one of those things that sounds good on paper but is impractical in real life. All I see is schools teaching a test. They drop anything that won't be on the test like music, art, creative writing and pretty much anything the kids might think is fun. They drill them constantly, quiz them every day on what will be on some test just so they can get more money or not get closed down. It is the most moronic thing I have ever heard of. Sure the kids may be reading better but at what cost? Kids that might have enjoyed some aspect of school are so burnt out and turned off by all the testing just give up. They are leaving the system reading at level but have no critical thinking skills. History and Science are back burner subjects that they get to when reading comprehension is done with (if that ever happens). It is sad. I would hate to be a student in the public school systems of this country right now. We were lucky with our daughter's school. She went to public school for Kindergarten and 1st grade and although they taught the tests they tried their hardest to integrate all the other subjects in there. In 1st grade she still had music twice a week, art, library and gym. She loved school. Other schools I have heard have dropped all of those other classes even for the little kids. Who would want to go to school? And in the end just because a student does well on a test does not mean anything. Some kids are just born test takers. Some can cram and remember stuff just long enough to take a test (like me) and then forget it. Others can be geniuses and just suck at taking tests. Tests mean nothing compared to other students and schools. They are good tools for seeing improvement in individual students as long as you are only comparing a student to him or herself.

It is a joke, there are still a lot of flaws in it. Honestly, if you want you daughter to have an education, put her in a private school, or choose her school, if you think that there is a school outside of your district that is better than what is in your district, to whatever it takes to get her into that school.

It is a joke, there are still a lot of flaws in it. Honestly, if you want you daughter to have an education, put her in a private school, or choose her school, if you think that there is a school outside of your district that is better than what is in your district, do whatever it takes to get her into that school.

there is a big problem with "the No Child Left behind". The concept is great but thoses carring it out don't seem to have a clue. They are teaching the kids how to pass the test but how to do the math or what science really is. The schools are so afraid of loosing their funding that they aren't really teaching the kids the things that they really need to know.

Basically they require too much to be taught. There should be an expansion of the school year and possible school on Saturday. The school is focusing on the test to make itself look good so many schools need to practice. Good teachers can be creative while having the chlidren develop criticial thinking. Perhaps you can suggest some ideas that the teaachers could do that would practice the test skills but also develop critical thinking. You didn't say what grade your child was in, so it is going to depend on the grade level.

small children really should learn maths, science, which can contribute to developing their logic thinking. yes, the "No Child Left Behind" in some way are of benefit to children' literacy development . but if the subjects are unbalanced , then the childre will lose a lot of pleasure in other fields.also, different subjects can offer different methods in dealing with problems, which can form different intelligence. hope you take action quickly