No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind initiative is generally an improved version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The ESEA is the federal government's biggest educational program that was designed to help disadvantaged students in the United States of America. Its principal objective is to make sure that all students in the United States of America are entitled to a fair, equal and fundamental opportunity to obtain a high-level quality education and be in a position to reach proficiency on challenging state academic assessments and academic achievement standards (McGuinn, 2016). Most of the students are dropping out of school due to standardized tests that are offered by teachers. The solution to problem, therefore, according to Theoni Soublis Smyth, “higher educational learning institutions use a model of accountability involving school site visits as a means to assess school achievement which if public schools followed the same site model it would help in supporting students, teachers, and schools towards higher  student success rates (Smyth, 2008).”

However, ever since No Child Left Behind initiative was implemented by President Bush in 2002, there have been critical concerns from parents, professors, and professors concerning the impacts of NCLB policy on poor and minority children. NCLB policies pose inconsistent benefits and many unintended impacts on minority students in the United States of America. Although the NCLB Act was intended to design an educational plan equal for all American students by connecting federal funding with a standardized test, the Act has led to unintended and negative influence on students such as stress and test anxiety which has led to an increased dropout of students from school and therefore for the federal government to improve the current plan, the NCLB policy should be restructured for all students to benefit from it.

NCLBA has failed to convince individuals in the United States that it has benefited students especially those that are raised by single mothers. Single mothers find a lot of difficulties raising their children single-handedly, and therefore they expected a lot from the program, but however they ended up being disappointed in the long run. Statistics indicate that NCLB transfer system benefited less than three percent of eligible students in the United States of America. Despite the fact that it was established by individuals who had good intentions, the Act punishes the teachers, poor students, and the racial minority children rather than helping them and therefore it should be restructured to enable the achievements of its objectives in the long run (Trolian and Fouts, 2011).

Since the inception of NCLB in the United States of America, the average homework load for students has doubled despite the fact that many researchers have argued that the homework is not beneficial to students as anticipated by the policymakers. For instance, most institutions demand that preschoolers be allowed to tackle academic subjects such as writing and reading on their own. Single parent movement has come to criticize the NCLB Act, especially in the middle and upper-income suburbs arguing that academic pressure and excessive homework, including the standardized tests, tend to stress students and lead to increased pressure on them which has negatively influenced their performance (Schroeder, 2015).

Since the teachers are also required to sign the performance contract, this increased pressure and excessive stress that students are suffering lead to a high dropout rate of students from schools. The added pressure also steals children their time that they are required to play with family members. This mainly affects single mothers who limited time with their children as they struggle to empower their families financially. The system is hectic because it deprives children of their valuable time to play, causes stress, denies them sleep, depresses them and leads to family strife. Although some institutions have responded by minimizing homework load for young students and getting rid of stress causing programs, the students still continue to face stress and depression when they get out of the third grade and hence most of them who fail to cope up with stress tend to drop out of schools in the long run. This is completely against the objective of NCLB which aims at helping disadvantaged children in the United States of America by offering fair and equal opportunities to all students through standardized testing.

Most of the students start to hate schools as early as when they are in the third grade as the institutions force them to complete a lot of homework to enable them to fit in the system that requires every teacher to be accountable for the performance of every student that they teach in the class. Both the students and the teachers are stressed equally, and this implies why teachers have a little time of guiding students in their academic which further leads to a higher dropout rate in the long run (Schroeder, 2015). Most of the students that are negatively influenced by the system are those that are raised by single mothers who have little or no time guiding their students on academic matters. These students tend to be demoralized, stressed, and depressed, hence their decision to drop out of school with the hope of getting relief elsewhere out of school.

NCLB creates strife between students and their parents. Each of time parents is required to follow their children to determine if they have completed their homework. Because of the high load of homework, students are left with little play time, attend parties, and in the long run, they get stressed. They then start to perceive their parents as their enemies for their strict supervision hence causing a family divide. American educational system is now depending more than ever on standardized papers which tend to compare students to each other as a dominant instrument of assessing their performance. This system, therefore, has forced teachers at all levels "to combat students to performance objectives and comparative standards of excellence rather than enabling them to attain mastery goals of the subjects." The emphasis on performance has established unhealthy classroom environment whereby the standardized tests tend to provoke substantial anxiety among students, and it appears to increase with levels and experience.

Generally, stress is the response to intense emotional, physical or mental demand forced on students by the academic system. A student's reaction, for instance, to the remarks of a teacher that the standardized test will be presented in the following week, may initiate stress that triggers that influence their psychological and physiological being. Intense pressure and stress, in the long run, forces many students out of school especially those that feel that the system does not favor them (Segool et al., 2013). The common responses to standardized tests are disturbed sleep patterns, anxiety, tiredness, increased infections, irregular eating habits, worry and inability to concentrate in studies which in the long run forces most of the students who cannot cope with stress out of school. Intense stress also lead to decreased memory capacity among stressed students, and this implies why most of the students who are stressed tend to perform poorly in classes as opposed to those that are not stressed.

Stress and depression hurt students and negatively influence their performance in the classroom. Anxiety provoking scenarios are part of the students' daily life in America after the introduction NCLB Act by President George Bush in 2002 and therefore the system should be restructured in order to reduce the dropout rate of students from schools. The older students such like those in high school tend to rebel stress by refusing to participate in school, avoiding classes and deliberately undermine the tests by answering wrongly to make the teachers angry. Since the teachers are also coerced to work under certain obligations and performance contract, they start being hard on students who show these traits and in the long run this worsens the situation as most of the students force themselves out of school when the pressure becomes too much for them to handle (Schroeder, 2015).

More teachers are now realizing how the standardized tests initiate anxiety among students. It has been established by many educators that anxiety increases as students move from one level to another (Triplett and Barksdale, 2005). Additionally, students do not essentially become "test wise" as it was believed by the policymakers in the initial stages of implementation of NCLB. Instead, students in the upper grades are reported not to be checking on their answers, tend to fill in bubbles carelessly and skim most of the passages that they are required to answer, and in most cases, they cheat in the tests to please their teachers. Those that are unable to cheat usually fail the tests and since the teachers are coerced by the government to ensure that all the students perform well in the tests, they start being hard on them and in the long run the increased pressure forces the students out of schools. The "test pollution" where most the students cheat to get pleasant performance normally lead to harmful habits that undermine the American educational system in the long run.

There are many consequences for the students who fail the standardized tests or those that receive low marks. The students, therefore, are then left with a few choices to make in school. For instance, they are left with the choices that devalue the tests, demean their own abilities to anger the educators or leave the school when the situation becomes unbearable. Even the students who excel in the tests pay the price in the later stages of life as they tend to value competitive success greatly as opposed to genuine learning. 

According to Smyth (2008) NCLB and its standardized tests raise the performance of the students for the wrong reasons. Educators may make better and newer achievement tests by ensuring that all their students excel in the standardized tests, and the parents may tend to be satisfied with the education that their students receive but the price the students pay after completing the school is intense. This, therefore, calls for the need of the Department of Education to restructure NCLB to ensure that all students benefit equally. Most of the students who fail to excel in the tests are forced to leave the schools, and this is the opposite of what NCLB objectives entail (Sadovnik et al., 2013).

Not only does the law affect students alone but also teachers. Educators are supposed to be "highly qualified" for them to be in a position to teach certain subjects in classrooms. This has led to increased stress and anxiety among the teachers as they struggle to advance in their academic to ensure that they meet the government laid qualifications. Despite the fact that this does not add to the performance of teachers, the government under the NCLB Act has continued to bother teachers which in the long run has impacted negatively on the performance of the students (Schroeder, 2015).The current system does not benefit both students and teachers but instead tend to cause increased pressure among them which has further led to a bad relationship between teachers and students in the long run. The end result of the enmity has resulted to decline performance for both teachers and the students making the Act to fail terribly in its objectives.

NCLB should be restructured to ensure that all students are able to complete the school as required by the federal government of the United States of America. Since approximately seventy percent of students in public schools are below "proficient" in math and seventy percent below proficient in reading, the federal government should ensure that the Act is restructured to prevent the increased rate of students from schools. For instance, the introduction of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by the Obama government has led to improved performance among students, and this has led to a decline in the dropout rate (Segool et al., 2013).The restructuring of NCLB is important as it will help mostly poor people and racial minority. Most of the individuals to benefit from the restructuring of the system are the single mothers who are divided between meeting the financial needs of the family and monitoring their students in schools. Most of the single mothers are worried about the NCLB system because of the fear that their children may be forced out of school if not well monitored and this, in the long run, has influenced them financially as most of them are unable to meet the financial need of the family as required of them. The only option that will see them benefit together with their children is for the government to restructure the education system to ensure that the laws do not force teachers to punish the students from the poor background in favor of the rich few.

In conclusion, high school dropout students report poor academic performance and indeed their loss of hope are enhanced by the academic system that compels them to work for long hours and stress. Those that are incapable of sustaining stress lose focus and hence their poor performance. The fact that the teachers are also coerced by the government to ensure that all students excel in the standardized tests make the situation worse for students in the long run. The teachers are therefore forced to create the situation unsustainable for students who show less commitment to their academics. Although the NCLB Act was intended to design an educational plan equal for all American students by connecting federal funding with a standardized test, the Act has led to unintended and negative influence on students such as stress and test anxiety which has led to an increased dropout of students from school and therefore for the federal government to improve the current plan, the NCLB policy should be restructured for all students to benefit from it.

References

McGuinn, P. (2016). From No Child Left Behind to the Every Student Succeeds Act: Federalism and the Education Legacy of the Obama Administration . Publius ,46 (3), 392-415. doi: 10.1093/publius/pjw014

Sadovnik, A. R., O'Day, J. A., Bohrnstedt, G. W., & Borman, K. M. (2013). No Child Left Behind and the reduction of the achievement gap: Sociological perspectives on federal educational policy . Routledge.

Schroeder, M. (2015). No Child Left Behind transfer option: impact on school site demographics and student achievement.

Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S., Goforth, A. N., von der Embse, N., & Barterian, J. A. (2013). Heightened Test Anxiety among Young Children: Elementary School Students' Anxious Responses to High-Stakes Testing.  Psychology In The Schools ,  50 (5), 489-499.

Smyth, T. S. (2008). Who Is No Child Left Behind Leaving Behind? Clearing House: A Journal Of Educational Strategies, Issues And Ideas ,  81 (3), 133-137.

Triplett, C. F., Barksdale, M.A. (2005). Third Through Sixth Graders’ Perceptions of High-Stakes Testing. Journal of Literacy Research , 37(2), 237-260.

Trolian, T. L. and Fouts, K. S. (2011). No Child Left Behind: Implications for college student learning. About Campus , 16: 2–7. doi:10.1002/abc.20061