Is No Child Left Behind Working?

NCLB takes an industrial approach to kids-- cram them into a testing mold! Unfortunately, life rarely is a multiple choice test. I am lucky enough to be able to afford my son a private education. But I had originally planned on sending him to public school. Good public schools actually have more resources, diversity, and certified teachers than some private institutions. But I want my child to be able to question, analyze, research, and challenge to world. How does a multiple choice exam teach these skills and virtues? Even rats can take a multiple choice test and get some answers right.

My children go to schools in a school district that is not up to the standard for the No Child left Behind. I have an intelligent child that is totally bored in school, an average child that is frustrated by teachers that only teach the test and not information that the students are interested in, and my youngest child, who is not overly intelligent, spends too much time sitting and not enough time playing.

This program not only hurts the really smart kids, but also the ones that really shouldn't be in the mainstream classroom in the first place. We have a difficult enough time getting teachers in our school district - it's even harder now that they have all these rules and regulations that make our teachers into paper pushers and not teachers.

Wow, Im suprised by the some of these remarks. I dont think cutting back on "stupid sports" is answer to anything if you know anything about the importance being on a team is to a childs growth. This new wave of teaching were you cant leave anyone out or tell anyone they are wrong is not helping, its highly hurting the generations to come. People all learn differently, thats why there needs to be many different teaching methods, and from experience there are quite a large number of people that just dont learn from tests. How about instead of cutting back on things and focusing just on a few things, we increase the time spent on everything. I know in florida the kids dont go to school till 9 30 and get out at 2- 230. Why not just adding on an extra 2 hours of schooling a day. That way we can teach our kids all of the important things and not just a few things. Music, arts and gym are just as important to a growing mind as math and english. Its ignorant to think that they dont matter.

Working for the school system, I see a lot of problems with the No Child Left Behind Act. For one thing our children can not read! They can not do the simplist math problem with out a calculator beside them! And as far as disipline is concerned we dare not say a word to them that they don't like for fear of being brought up to the Board. And we could loose our job for it. I agree with all the comments saying we've left thousands of children behind. And we should get back to the basics of teaching! And maybe, as parents, we should all try to do something about it. My children are grown but I have grand children that I'd love to see learning ALL they need to learn to be good, productive citizens in the world. Not just what the politicians THINK they need to learn! Then maybe they'll have a chance in this world!

I've read that it is not working--and the schools who need help the most are punished if they don't meet particular testing requirements. Testing can be beneficial, but it doesn't seem to acknowlege that kids learn at different paces--and you can't force kids to read at the same level for example. I think it puts undue burdens on teachers.

No and the homework they give the kids is unbelievable!

The fastest learners have to sit for hours while the other students learn the basics. No Child Left Behind is pulling students to the middle (average). We live in a competitive world where we need outstanding students and thinkers, not just average. Schools need to be split from the beginning based on ability with the freedom to move up levels. The best and the brightest should not be punished for learning quickly!

This law is good in theory but not in practicality. Five year olds will not get a thing out of a class by being forced to sit for 1 1/2 hours in a reading group at one clip and havubg homework by the ton. If they don't get their exercise in school, chances are that they will not get it after school either. The same goes for older children.

The schools would be so much better off cutting out football teams and other stupid sports and spending the money on healthy and organic school food, teaching better nutrition classes and teaching things like etymology (prefixes and suffixes) so that they will learn how to figure out the meaning of words on their own to get them ready for SATs and such; also teaching them simple math so they will be able to live in the real world and can balance their own check books.

Teachers and administrators are so paranoid about getting the test results that they forget about the children. They teach to the test instead of teaching kids how to learn.

Ah, the irony of a name. They tried for the opposite, to leave no child behind, and they managed to leave thousands behind, stuck to a desk to take a test that a teacher had to teach. So sad. I just hope we go to the opposite extreme, as America seems to do, and get back to teaching to the child. Then we'll be able to call the new policy, All Children Prosper Ahead! (or something more word smithy).

No. I was against it from the beginning, and I'm still against it. Kids going to school now are not getting a better education.