No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools. This act is one of the most highly debated education issues of the decade. Many people agree that the NCLB Act is important and the intent of the Act is positive. According to President Obama, the Act has some major flaws. At the Manchester, New Hampshire speech in 2007, President-Elect Obama stated, “Promising high-quality teachers in every classroom and then leaving the support and pay for those teachers behind is wrong. Labeling a school and its students as failures one day, and then throwing your hands up and walking away from the next is wrong.” So what is President Obama’s proposition? According to President Obama, it is necessary to provide the funding that was promised and to give the states the resources they need. Two fundamental reforms that Obama suggests are: Improvements to assessments and improvements to the accountability. His administration believes funds should be provided for states to implement a broader range of assessments to evaluate higher-order skills. This includes students’ abilities to use technology, conduct research, engage in scientific investigation, solve problems and present and defend their ideas. There is no doubt that parents and educators across the country will be waiting anxiously for the future results of this legislation.