Navigating the difficult waters of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: what it means for education of the deaf

The author outlines the major elements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and describes the law's impact on deaf education. The law's stated purpose is to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. The specific goal of the law is to ensure that all students are 100% proficient in reading, mathematics, and science by 2014. No Child Left Behind has effected sweeping reforms in general education. But with 814 requirements, it has also created great stress in educators throughout the United States. No Child Left Behind poses particular challenges to education of the deaf since policymakers gave no consideration to the needs of deaf children in formulating this law. Clearly, deaf students must be included in school and state accountability systems,but the law leaves many questions unanswered.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Assistencialism</Emphasis> and the Politics of High-Stakes Testing

In this article I argue that the current high-stakes testing accountability model is an assistencialist model, derived from deficit thinking paradigms. Such models, like the No Child Left Behind Act, sanction low performance with serious consequences for students and educators. Drawing from Freire, I propose an anti-assistencialist accountability model based on local community culture and needs that would include critical, problem-posing education, dialogue as a means toward raising social consciousness, and appropriate assessments according to local community needs. I further argue that such an accountability model can be implemented through cultural immersion programs that include three levels of immersion, (1) classroom culture, (2) local community culture, and (3) trans/cultural, or transnational exposure.     

Commentary: Accountability Policy and Scholarly Research

Since 2001, considerations of school reform have been dominated by performance-based accountability. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has changed the way policymakers and educators talk about education, look at educational performance, and think about educational challenges. Nonetheless, NCLB and the state accountability systems it has spawned have been subjected to little careful scrutiny. This article discusses four recent research contributions and considers how they might inform policymaking on accountability. While scholarly scrutiny will not necessarily settle debates, it can help yield more constructive and informed decisions. In particular, research can clarify the actual consequences of policy decisions; highlight and refine approaches that may be more reliable, stable, and effective than those in use; flag the unanticipated or overlooked effects of design decisions; and ensure that both policymakers and the public are aware of the costs and benefits of accountability.     

Understanding the Impact of Accountability on Preservice Teachers’ Decisions About Where to Teach

Research has shown that individuals who become teachers are uniquely oriented to the psychic rewards of teaching such as connecting with students and making a difference. Yet, in the era of “No Child Left Behind”, emphasis upon test scores as indicators of student learning, competition within and between school districts, and threats of external sanctions seem to promote a different orientation to teachers’ work. This is especially the case in schools with limited human, social, physical, and cultural capital serving disproportionate numbers of low-income, racial/ethnic and linguistic minority students typically located in urban areas. Given the existing problem of teacher shortages in urban schools and the current impact of accountability, this study seeks to explore two questions: How do preservice teachers believe their aspirations to teach will be affected by the accountability movement? And how do these views affect their considerations about where to teach?     

Renewal of Educational Systems Through Organizational Strategies

In this article, the author examines the role that teachers play in the moral development of American students. Historically, one of public education's purposes in America has been the development of moral citizens. However, educators currently face more academic accountability due to No Child Left Behind. Consequently, teachers must strike a balance between achieving quantifiable academic standards and assisting with students' character development.     

One size never fits all: Teachers’ responses to standardized curriculum materials and implications for early childhood teacher educators

ABSTRACT

The age of accountability introduced by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 triggered widespread development of local control-oriented policies in an effort to “leave no child behind.” Research makes it clear that such policies directly impact instruction. However, primary grade teachers are rarely included in these studies, leaving teacher educators with little empirical data on which to ground their work with preservice teachers as it relates to such policies. This article reports findings from a study of 15 experienced primary grade teachers who work with standardized curriculum materials. Data from these teachers’ experiences can inform today’s teacher educators as they prepare the next generation of teachers to navigate “one size fits all” curricula. Findings suggest that experienced teachers of young children adapt, augment, and extend the intended curriculum to promote academic proficiency in tested subjects in very specific ways. Implications for preservice teacher education are discussed.     

The teachers college faces the future in the selection of teachers

This article examines the educational conditions and resources, institutional characteristics, and political factors that contribute to shaping states' educational accountability policies. The policies addressed are identification of underperforming schools, state takeover or reconstitution of failing schools, and state power to replace principals and teachers in underperforming schools. The article addresses accountability for schools and educators, rather than high-stakes tests for students, because of the emphases of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Based on correlations and cross-sectional, logistic regression, the most important predictors of states' accountability policies appear to be National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP performance, state education agency staff resources, and Democratic party identification. However, the impact of Democratic party identification is reduced when the southern states are excluded. The article concludes with a discussion of directions for further quantitative and qualitative research, as well as predictions of how NCLB is likely to affect states' accountability policies.     

Inclusive Achievement Testing for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Test Takers: Essential Considerations for Test Developers and Decision Makers

Substantial growth in the numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States and Canada in recent years has significantly affected the educational systems of both countries. This article focuses on critical issues and concerns related to the assessment of ELLs in U.S. and Canadian schools and emphasizes assessment approaches for test developers and decision makers that will facilitate increased equity, meaningfulness, and accuracy in assessment and accountability efforts. It begins by examining the crucial issue of defining ELLs as a group. Next, it examines the impact of testing originating from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) in the U.S. and government‐mandated standards‐driven testing in Canada by briefly describing each country's respective legislated testing requirements and outlining their consequences at several levels. Finally, the authors identify key points that test developers and decision makers in both contexts should consider in testing this ever‐increasing group of students.     

What Is Measured Is Treasured: The Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Nonassessed Subjects

In this article, the author reports the results of a national survey taken by state assessment directors on the impact of No Child Left Behind on nonassessed subjects between the years 2001-5. Results indicate that during this time, statewide assessment of science and writing increased whereas it decreased in the social studies, arts and humanities, listening, and technology and computers. Four themes emerged when survey takers queried participants about the impact of No Child Left Behind on nonassessed subject areas. First, reduction of resources and time for nontested subject areas was evident. Second, curriculum integration of nontested subject areas into the tested subjects increased. Third, alignment of curriculum and assessment with state standards increased. Fourth, several state assessment directors relayed they observed no impact.     

Validity of High‐Stakes Assessment: Are Students Engaged in Complex Thinking?

The validity of high-stakes assessments and accountability systems is discussed in relation to the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The extent to which content standards and assessments are cognitively rich, the challenges in setting performance standards, and the impact of high-stakes assessments on instruction and student learning are addressed. The article argues for quality content standards, cognitively rich assessments, and a cohesive, balanced assessment system.     

The growth of high‐stakes testing in the USA: accountability,markets and the decline in educational equality

Over the last decade education in the United States has undergone perhaps its most significant transformation. Where in the past public schools have been primarily under the control of the local community, control has shifted to the state and federal levels. Furthermore, state and federal governments have introduced standardized testing and accountability as a means to hold teachers and students responsible. These reforms have been successfully introduced because reform proponents have provided three principal rationales for the reforms: they are necessary within an increasingly globalized economy, they will reduce educational inequality and they will increase assessment objectivity. After describing the reforms implemented in New York and Texas and by the federal government through the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act, the author discusses a range of evidence that the reforms have not achieved their ostensible goals and that resistance to the reforms is beginning to emerge from US educators and citizens.     

What Does the No Child Left Behind Act Mean to Early Childhood Teacher Educators?: A Call for a Collective Professional Rejoinder

This article is a call to become more critically aware of the new law commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind Act, which was put into effect in 2002 in the United States. The article is also an invitation to early childhood educators worldwide to engage in a dialogue that raises several questions: (a) How does such legislation affect early childhood educators and teacher preparation programs?; (b) How might teacher educators react and respond to the new law as they continuously practice informed decision-making about teacher preparation that is socially responsible? In view of these questions, it is a hope that we can see the initiation of nationwide dialogue regarding the issue of the No Child Left Behind Act. Primarily, how does the new law affect teacher educators and teachers? It is inevitable for us to be united and politically informed to prevent further scrutiny of questionable politically and economically driven educational practices in the United States, not to mention “test-heavy” evidence-based education reform.     

Adding without Contradiction: The Challenge of Opening Up Interracial Dialogue

This article addresses the shifting educational priorities in the accountability era by examining states’ expressed and assessed educational goals in relation to those goals enjoying historical and popular support. The authors argue that curricular restriction in response to federally influenced educational priorities limits individual and social growth, concluding that the 2014 No Child Left Behind ultimatum provides a ready catalyst for reorienting educational priorities to address more holistic aims grounded in research from positive psychology.     

The Potential Impacts of Upcoming High-Stakes Testing on the Teaching of Science in Elementary Classrooms

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education in the United States issued a report called A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. This report and other policy initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Legislation recommended that the individual states institute assessments to hold schools accountable. This research explored the potential impact of impending standardised testing on teaching science in elementary schools in one school district in Florida. We explored the teachers' concerns about the upcoming high-stakes tests in science, possible impact on their curriculum and what changes, if any, will be made in the approach to science teaching and learning in their classrooms. As the teachers look toward the implementation of high-stakes testing in science, they have recognised the need to teach science. This recognition is not borne out of the importance of science learning for elementary school children, but rather out of fear of failure and the effects of tangible rewards or punishments that accompany high-stakes testing. In anticipation, the teachers are preparing to align their teaching to the science standards while aggressively searching for test preparatory materials. Schools are also involved in professional development and structural changes to facilitate teaching of science.     

A bridge between worlds: understanding network structure to understand change strategy

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of the central office as a support to the work of reform and offer strategies for building relations between district offices and sites in order to implement and sustain change efforts. What is frequently overlooked in these studies is that organizational change efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying social networks may provide insight into structures that support or constrain efforts at change. This exploratory case study uses social network analysis and interviews to examine the communication and knowledge network structures of central office and site leaders in an ‘in need of improvement’ district facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Findings indicate sparse ties among and between school site and central office administrators, as well as a centralized network structure that may constrain the exchange of complex information and ultimately inhibit efforts at change.     

Validity of Inferences from Test-based Educational Accountability Systems

Many states have adopted test-based accountability systems before the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 became law. NCLB has added a new dimension to test-based educational accountability systems. Features of state and NCLB accountability are discussed with an emphasis on questions of the validity of inferences that are made about school quality. It is concluded that none of the current approaches toe test-based accountability support causal inferences about school quality. It is also shown that tracking progress toward the important goal of closing gaps in achievement requires more than just monitoring changes in the percentages of students who are proficient.     

Trick or treat: new ecology of education accountability system in the USA

This study tracks American states’ policy choices under the No Child Left Behind Act and explores their consequences for student achievement. Using the path analysis of relationships among state‐level policy input, context, and outcome variables, the study portrays a Halloween‐like ‘trick‐or‐treating’ game between the federal and state governments in the new ecology of the test‐driven education accountability system. States that chose the ‘trick’ path with a calculative policy negotiation and manipulation strategy made significant gains on their own state assessments but not on the national assessment. In contrast, states that followed the ‘treat’ path with a faithful policy implementation for funding strategy have not yet brought about significant gains on either the national or state assessments. The first‐generation accountability states with a prior history of high‐stakes testing tended to employ both strategies at the same time. However, neither effective illusion nor ineffective implementation serves the goal of long‐term, sustainable academic improvement. Implications for research and policy are discussed.     

Dubious Sovereignty: Federal Conditions of Aid and the No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) represents the greatest extension to date of Federal authority over public school governance. In NCLB, Congress used its conditional spending power to push states and localities into enacting particular kinds of testing and accountability policies. This article places NCLB in the context of Congress's generally increasing willingness to exert itself via conditions attached to federal financial aid. It also analyzes the implications of NCLB for federalism and intergovernmental relationships in education governance.     

Input-Guarantee Versus Performance- Guarantee Approaches to School Accountability: Cross-State Comparisons of Policies,Resources, and Outcomes

States' policy approaches to accountability tend to divide between a primary emphasis on input guarantees and a primary emphasis on performance guarantees. In the midst of keen controversies about the impact of high-stakes testing under the No Child Left Behind Act, this article examines separate and joint effects of input-guarantee versus performance-guarantee policies on reading and math achievement. Combining data from state policy surveys, the School District Finance Survey (F-33), and the Schools and Staffing Survey, the study examines 50 states' activism in test-driven external accountability policies and their support for key school resources (per-pupil spending, class size, in-field teaching). The school resources factor is not correlated with the accountability policy factor at the state level, implying that high-stakes testing pressure was not balanced with school support. Further, hierarchical linear growth models were used to examine interstate variations in the trends of National Assessment of Educational Progress 4th- and 8th grade reading and math scores. The effects of accountability policy alone were not significant in reading and math, whereas the joint effects of accountability and resources were significant in math. The findings suggest that the effects of accountability on academic achievement are moderated by the availability of school resources and that the states can help schools make greater academic progress by combining a performance guarantee approach with an input-guarantee approach.     

奥巴马政府教育改革的政策研究与启示

随着《不让一个儿童掉队》(No Child Left Behind)法案在美国遭到的质疑越来越多,奥巴马政府颁布了新的教育改革政策。其中包括加大学前教育投资、提高课程及评价标准、改革教师相关政策、发展特许公立学校以及普及高等教育等措施。与《不让一个儿童掉队》法案相比,此次改革具有更强的实践指导意义,但同时也遭到了反对派的质疑。新教育改革政策不仅承担着提高教育整体水平的职责,而且还肩负着使全美各领域从金融危机中复苏的政治任务,因此奥巴马教育改革政策在引起社会公众关注的同时,也引发了学术界的深刻反思。