Advertorial in Education Week, February 18, 2004

The No Child Left Behind Act embodies excellent intent. No thinking person, whether parent or educator, would argue against schools working hard to meet the learning needs of all children and being held accountable for doing so to the best of their ability. No child should be left behind on the road to a bright future. That is the excellent intent of NCLB. But many would question whether the strategies for school improvement embedded in the Act are the best choices.

In September, Phi Delta Kappa International released the findings from its 35th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. The influential poll found that a majority of Americans (76%) know little or nothing about the No Child Left Behind Act. This is a problem if we seriously want parents and educators to work together to implement the Act.

However, the problem goes deeper. When the poll went on to ask about school improvement strategies built into NCLB, the public showed a marked lack of support for the strategies. For example, NCLB judges schools based on a fixed percentage of students passing a standardized test. Most of the public (84%) favor using student improvement as a gauge of school success.

Sixty-six percent of Americans say judging schools using a single standardized test will cause teachers to “teach to the test.” Sixty percent say that’s a bad thing. NCLB also judges schools using only math and English test results. Eighty percent of the public are concerned that this will mean less emphasis on art, history, music, and other subjects.

In November, PDK took another next step in examining NCLB and invited educators from across the United States, Canada, and around the world to participate in a major conference held in St. Louis, Missouri. The conference theme was “Leave No School Behind: Challenges and Opportunities.” Many participants there, as elsewhere, voiced the view the NCLB identifies some real problems in public education — and then mandates the wrong solutions.

Education leaders in communities across the United States recognize that NCLB is seriously flawed. But the Act also is fixable. What is needed now is leadership at the national level — leadership willing to be held accountable for the flaws in NCLB and, more important, willing to correct them. By so doing, the excellent intent of NCLB may be realized.

Phi Delta Kappa
International
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Support for this message provided by the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation