The No Child Left Behind Act has been both influential and controversial since it was first passed

over a
decade ago. But what exactly is it? In this lesson, we'll explore the No Child Left Behind Act, including its
pros and cons.

No Child Left Behind

Imagine that you went to school where there were no assessments. Pretty cool, right? No papers to
write, no tests to take - that would be awesome!

But wait! If there were no assessments, how would you and your teachers know if you're learning? You
might think you understand something, and your teacher might assume you do, but you could have it
totally wrong! Not to mention the fact that without assessments, you couldn't tell if you were doing well
enough to pass on to the next grade.

Not too long ago, schools were not required to give assessments to students. Many of them did, but it
wasn't a requirement. But then the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was passed, which was the first
federal law requiring schools to assess students and put forth standards for students to pass.

NCLB, as the No Child Left Behind Act is often called, focused on assessments, standards, and
accountability of schools and teachers. It was linked to Title I Funding, which are federal monies given to
schools with a high percentage of low-income students. Essentially, the law said that schools would have
to administer standards-based assessments. If students didn't do well enough on the assessments, the
schools risked losing their Title I funding.

Let's look closer at the pros and cons of NCLB.

Pros

Many educators were very excited about NCLB when it was first signed into law at the beginning of 2002.
And there are some really good things that have happened since then to bolster the support of NCLB.
They include:

1. Test score improvement

In general, test scores have improved since 2002. Not only that, test scores of minority students have
improved since then, a good sign for the future!

2. Teacher qualifications

One of the issues that NCLB tried to tackle was that of making sure that teachers were highly qualified
for the jobs that they do. Since 2002, more teachers are qualified and more highly educated than they
were before. This means that students are getting instruction from the best possible teachers.

3. Extra help

One benefit of regular testing is that it helps schools identify students who need extra help. And because
the schools could lose funding if students don't do well on tests, they have an extra incentive to help
struggling students. Since NCLB was passed, hundreds of thousands of students have received tutoring
or other free supplemental help from schools.

4. Parental understanding

Remember when we said that without assessments, you can't know how well you're doing in school?
Thanks to the tests mandated by NCLB, parents have a better idea of how their child is doing.

Not only that - because schools' test scores are made public, parents have a better idea of how their
child's school is doing, and that allows them to better understand options, like private school or charter
schools, that might provide a better place for their children to learn.
Best Practice Benchmarking and Innovations

Sun.Star Pampanga14 Jul 2016

The “No Child Left Behind” Policy of the Department of Education solidifies the right to quality education
of Filipino children, specially school age children coming from the City of San Fernando. The K to 12
curriculum in education must not only be available and accessible but also acceptable and adaptable.

The DepEd- Division of City of San Fernando has been adamant in keeping teachers and school heads
abreast with the 21st century teaching strategies, techniques and styles towards the successful and
invaluable adaptation of the City on the K to 12 curriculum implementation.

The Division has also conducted trainings on the proper crafting and conceptualization of school
performance targets, specifically on Senior High schools focused on providing all learners with
capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute
to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance individual well-being. It is assumed that results would
create a great impact beyond value among our learners.

The unending support of the City Government and the DepEd Division inspired the School Heads
BENCHMARK BEST PRACTICES on programs which were found effective by other schools and MAKE
INNOVATIONS commensurate the immediate need of their respective learners. Ultimate goal of school
heads go beyond learners’acquisition of numeracy and literacy. Benchmarking is a way of setting a
yardstick towards achieving a goal. In the process of best practice benchmarking, school leaders identify
the effective programs in other schools, where similar processes exist, compare implementation and
results. In this way, they learn how well the targets perform and, more importantly, the program
processes that explain why these schools are highly competitive and performing well.

Benchmarking is often treated as a continuous process in which organizations continually revisit to

improve their practices. The results determined provides inputs for school performance and learning
outcomes improvement.

— oOo— The author is School Principal of SES, City of San Fernando, Pampanga

No child left behind is a legislation proposed by President Bush

in 2003 that holds certain expectations for school performance and the ability

to meet key objectives in the areas of accountability,average yearly progress

and the recruitment and selection of qualified classroom teachers. He believed

that quality academic performance produces quality graduates and it follows

quality citizen.This act No Child Left Behind is adopted by the Deped in the

Philippines.However. despite of it, statistics show that the International test

results consistently show Filipino students lagging way behind practically

everybody else in the world . In 2008 mathematics exam for example,embarrassing

to say we came in dead last.The education in the Philippines is critical and

needs urgent reformation.This key issue in Philippine education needs to be

looked closely and should be resolved . Ophel Lumogda, 2011

– PhilHealth estimates that one out of seven or around 5.1 million Filipino children are living with
disabilities. Yet there is little information on the prevalence of disabilities among Filipino children.

The Situation of Children with Disabilities in the Philippines study addresses this information gap and
provides data that will support the development of responsive national programs and services for
children with disabilities. Supported by the Australian Embassy, UNICEF, the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), the report underlined that children with disabilities continue to
experience barriers to access basic social services. This is compounded by poverty, lack of data, weak
governance and discriminatory attitudes related to disability in general.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely, DSWD Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo, and
UNICEF Philippines OIC Representative Julia Rees attended the public presentation of the study.

“Children with disabilities are less likely to attend school, access medical services, or have their voices
heard in society. Their disabilities also place them at a higher risk of physical abuse and discrimination,
and often exclude them from receiving proper nutrition or humanitarian assistance in emergencies,”
Rees said.
UNICEF is working with PhilHealth to develop benefit packages for children with disabilities in the
Philippines. UNICEF is also helping establish three children with disability hubs in Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao.

Ambassador Gorely expressed support, “The Embassy is pleased to provide assistance to UNICEF and our
Philippine Government partners for this important study that helps everyone understand the lives of
children with disability and how we can improve their situation. Disability-inclusive development is a
priority of Australia’s Foreign Policy, and underpins our engagement on human rights, development
assistance and humanitarian action.”

The study, conducted by Development Academy of the Philippines, recommends putting in place a
comprehensive service framework for children with disabilities and a strong referral system that
integrates the different social services. Addressing financial barriers to social services is also important,
as is enhancing the disability inclusiveness of health, education, social welfare and transportation
services.

While the Philippines has taken significant steps and continues to address the issues of persons and
children with disabilities through laws, community-based services, incentives and social cash transfers,
more can be done to ensure their rights are fulfilled.

“Australia is proud to be one of the largest donors to the Philippines on social protection, and we are
ready to assist through our existing partnerships with DSWD and UNICEF,” said Ambassador Gorely.

Click here to download the Situation Analysis of Children with Disabilities policy brief

###

For more information, please contact:

Zafrin Chowdhury, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Philippines, Tel: +: +632 901 01 77, Mobile: +63 917
867 8366, zchowdhury@unicef.org
Marge Francia, Communication Officer, UNICEF Philippines Tel: +632 901 01 73, Mobile: +63 917 858
9447, mfrancia@unicef.org

Nisa Rigets, Public Affairs Officer, Australian Embassy Tel: +632 757 8173, Mobile +63 917 512 9676,
Manila.PD@dfat.gov.au

It is a United States of America Law

The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. To receive federal school funding, states
must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels.

No Child Left behind requires all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a statewide
standardized test annually to all students

(Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act)

And during the course of my research, I also found out that the Philippines have a senate bill with the
title: A No Filipino Child Left Behind Act of 2008” under Senate Bill 2366 and introduced by then Senator
Manny Villar.

While the US law is concentrating on how to administer standardized tests to states and federal funding
to implement the law, our Senate is concentrating on how education can reach to those children without
the capacity to go to school.

While the US Law’s objective is improvement on the country’s education, our senate bill objective is to
ensure that education is provided to all children because we have a high percentage of children not
finishing elementary education and cannot even go to the secondary education. According to the senate
bill out of 100 students who enter Grade 1, only 63 will reach Grade 6. Its 37% dropout rate. And that in
high school, the survival rate is only 55%.

Below is the link of the complete copy of the senate bill so you can check for further details: balingasa,
2015

The No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB is an update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that
holds schools accountable for student outcomes. It supports standardized educational reforms and
enables the provision of valuable objectives and high standards in the education system. Unfortunately,
the federal government could hardly provide the right funding for the program. It is also creating fear
among teachers, because a student performing badly could result in their termination. So what exactly
does the NLCB act good for?

LIST OF PROS OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

1. Helps ensure better test scores.

Since the act was implemented in 2002, students test scores are said to have improved. The same is true
for students belonging in minority groups. This is perceived as a good sign for the future.

2. Results in equal access to education.

Whatever achievement gaps in the overall academic performance of students in all American schools will
be addressed by the Act. This means disadvantaged students will have an opportunity to improve their
skills and be at par with intelligence or advanced students.

3. Higher education standards.

For the American education system to become more competitive and advanced, institutions must hire
the best tutors and teachers. This means schools have to enforce higher standards, persuading students
to improve their performance. Since its implementation, tutoring has been provided to nearly 450,000
eligible students.
4. Approved educational reforms.

Since the No Child Left Behind Act was implemented, the number of students attending American
schools have hugely increased. This is why many are satisfied with the educational reforms.

LIST OF CONS OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

1. Excludes special education.

No enhancement procedures or good reforms for special education were established. This mean
students with learning disabilities will not benefit from the reform.

2. Results in academic difficulty.

The act holds students to the same state-dictated achievement standards, regardless of their intelligence
and ability level, native language and socioeconomic status. This puts students who are not very
intelligent in a difficult position to keep up with the higher standards of learning.

3. Possible loss of ambition.

Who would want to continue studying when faced with many challenges? Students having difficulty to
keep up with more intelligent students would either work harder or give up. If they choose the latter,
they also give up their ambition in the process.

4. Inequality in focus of academic resources.

More attention was focused on reading and math proficiency, resulting in fewer time and resources
devoted to other areas in education, such as social studies, science, art and physical education.

5. Difficulty in measuring student’s performance.

Because academic standards are set by the state, many professionals argue that comparison of data on a
nationwide scale is impossible. Measurement is also based only on an annual multiple tests on reading
and math.

6. Requires increased investment.

The amount of investment needed to implement the act is more than the budget that the federal
government allocated for the educational system and programs in American schools. This is why lack of
funding has become a consistent failure.