Child Left Behind Policy

by Ted Rueter, Assistant Professor o f Political Science at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana

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School is back in session. With the new academic year, school districts are once again struggling to implement the No Child Left Behind Act--a massive federal intrusion that impedes learning, encourages dropouts, narrows the curriculum, increases anxiety, fosters academic dishonesty, and does nothing to improve schools.

In 2002, President Bush sat at a wooden desk in the gymnasium of Ohio's Hamilton High School and signed this massive federal law. The Act dramatically expands the federal government's role in education. It touts the goals of closing the student achievement gap, making public schools "accountable," establishing standards of excellence for every child, and placing a qualified teacher in every classroom.

The law requires student testing--and plenty of it. There are annual tests in reading and math in grades 3 through 8, and once in grades 10-12, beginning in 2005-2006. There are tests in science in elementary school, middle school, and high school, beginning in 2007-2008. School and district progress reports must be met each year, and by 2014, every student in America must have achieved state-defined proficiency. Students in "failing" schools will be eligible to transfer to "high-performing" schools. "Failing" schools may be closed.

What's wrong with testing, testing, testing? Plenty. First, annual high-stakes testing impedes learning. It produces rote memorization and a "drill and grill" curriculum. Between pre-testing and the actual testing, students may be involved in 3 to 4 weeks of test-related activities distinct from normal instruction. This distraction may account for as much as 10 percent of the year's instructional time. Instead of imparting knowledge, public school teachers are spending increasing amounts of time teaching to the test.

Also, high-stakes testing encourages school dropouts. In Massachusetts in 2003, almost twenty percent of high school seniors did not pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment to receive their high school diplomas--including 44 percent of the state's black seniors and half its Hispanic seniors. Students who feel they cannot pass the test--despite repeated attempts--see no reason to stay in school.

The No Child Left Behind Act also restricts the curriculum. It produces a narrow focus on math and reading test scores. Schools desperate to improve their test scores are eliminating courses in art, music, speech, debate, home economics, industrial arts, history, social studies, and physical education--as