The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), made law in 2002 by President George W. Bush, was put in place of the former Elementary and Secondary Education Act which was there in 1965. In 2015, President Obama repealed the Act with the claim that although it had the right goals, it still fell short by not producing the anticipated results (Camera 2015 ). There have been arguments for and against the repeal of the Act, each side holding tangible reasons. Basically, the No Child Left Behind Act was geared towards improving the performance of certain groups of students including those in special education as well as those from poor and minority backgrounds. The argument supporting this Act largely centers on the fact that it aimed at improving performance of such like students as well as ensuring that all children received good education despite of their respective backgrounds. Those against the repeal further argue that the Act promoted accountability in the schools. 

However, there are several factors which pushed to the repealing of the Act, according to those who support the repeal. Most importantly, there was the involvement of the federal in public schools (Camera L. 2015 ). The Act heavily boosted the role of the federal in public schools and there was need to shift more authority to the states and the local school districts. Another critique was that the law focused too much on standardized tests and on math and reading tests. This has led to narrowing of the curriculum altogether since subject like the arts were given less time because their testing was not explicit. I agree with the argument supporting the repeal of the Act because the new law offers a more flexible way of finding solutions as well as ensuring that academic performance is improved. 

Reference 

Camera L. 2015 . No Child Left Behind Has Finally Been Left Behind . US News, retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/09/congress-replaces-no-child-left-behind-shifts-power-to-states