Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools

by Deborah Meier (Editor), George Wood (Editor)

Signed into law in 2002, the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) promised to revolutionize American public education. Originally supported by a bipartisan coalition, it purports to improve public schools by enforcing a system of standards and accountability through high-stakes testing. Many people supported it originally, despite doubts, because of its promise especially to improve the way schools serve poor children. By making federal funding contingent on accepting a system of tests and sanctions, it is radically affecting the life of schools around the country.

But, argue the authors of this citizen's guide to the most important political issue in education, far from improving public schools and increasing the ability of the system to serve poor and minority children, the law is doing exactly the opposite. Here some of our most prominent, respected voices in education-including school innovator Deborah Meier, education activist Alfie Kohn, and founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools Theodore R. Sizer-come together to show us how, point by point, NCLB undermines the things it claims to improve:
* How NCLB punishes rather than helps poor and minority kids and their schools
* How NCLB helps further an agenda of privatization and an attack on public schools
* How the focus on testing and test preparation dumbs down classrooms
* And they put forward a richly articulated vision of alternatives.

Educators and parents around the country are feeling the harshly counterproductive effects of NCLB. This book is an essential guide to understanding what's wrong and where we should go from here.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Politics

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For the cost of 1 percent of the Bush administration’s 2003 tax cuts or the equivalent of one week’s combat cost during the war in Iraq, we could provide top quality preparation for more than 150,000 new teachers to teach in high-need schools and mentor all of the new teachers who are hired over the next 5 years.” (Page 30)


“ . . a recognition that public education is in many ways the very foundation of our democracy. . . It is the nation’s most valuable public resource for creating common ground in what we as a collective know and believe, for developing a strong citizenry, and for ensuring a prepared workforce. It serves as the center of all types of communities and as the glue that holds us together as a people.” (Page 31)

‘ “Texas Miracle” upon which much of the NCLB legislation is based.’ (Page 36 and reference to book introduction)

. . .to demonstrate the commitment to privatization lurking behind NCLB . . .is a matter of public record. As originally proposed by the Bush administration, the legislation would have used federal funds to provide private school vouchers to students in Title I schools with lagging test results. This provision was dropped only when it threatened to torpedo the whole bill; instead, the stick used to beat schools into raising their scores was limited to the threat that students could transfer to other public schools.
Since then Bush’s Department of Education has taken other steps to pursue its agenda, such as allocating money hand over fist to private groups that share that agenda. In early 2004, People for the American Way reported that the administration had funneled more than $75 million in tax payer funds to pro-voucher groups and miscellaneous for-profit entities. Among them is William Bennett’s latest gamble, known as K12- a company specializing in on-line education for homeschoolers. (Page 88)

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great series of essays on the effects of No Child Left Behind on the school lives and educational communities of American kids. It's a really short, easy, and accessible read, and the authors really deftly synthesize the effects of NCLB on a variety of spheres from the pedagogical and instructional to the social, societal, and political. Many of the authors even provide a fairly balanced and empathic viewpoint of NCLB - which I don't think is an obligation, but I appreciated the basic respect for the fact that many who support these laws do so out of good intentions. There's such a tendency in discussions about education reform for all sides to construct straw men and assume ill intentions. I appreciated that that wasn't the case in this book.

Although I have my compunctions about NCLB, and really agree with the policy analysis and many conclusions of this book, I was deeply frustrated by the position of some of the writers that 20 years or a century (!) is an adequate timeline for getting our communities schools that put kids from low income communities on the same trajectory of kids who were lucky enough to be born in more privileged zip codes. There are kids sitting in classrooms right now, and the solutions and discussions offered in this book don't address what we can do for those children. The answer can't be nothing.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presents NCLB from multiple perspectives
Informative

Recommended reading

Darling-Hammond’s piece was the most well written portion in my opinion- she’s advocating as she’s has for decades about the savage inequalities which exist within our system

Thanks to all for the contribution to the literature

[Ranya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone interested in the status of education in the US needs to read this book... While it may seem that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a great thing, especially to someone who hasn't talked to teachers or read on their own on the topic, it is actually the DEVIL. Okay, it's not THAT bad, but its effects could mean the end of public education as we know it. It punishes students and communities that need help the most, and actually makes worse the very problems it sets out to solve. This book contains several articles and perspectives on the 2002 law that is nearing its reauthorization.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the perspectives of the experts contributing chapters here but I'm left looking for some literature from the other side so that I can have a more balanced view of what SHOULD be happening in education. These essays were extremely well-written and persuasive singly and as a collection, however.

[Chelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The democratic process is being destroyed because of the NCLB Act and it's insistence on using standardized test scores to judge schools. The whole point is to privatize public schools and for someone to make a profit off of them.

[Murphyemilye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to NCLB. Every chapter was refreshing because each was written by a different scholar and provided a new perspective on NCLB and its impact on education. Overall this book was well compiled and interesting.

[Jeffrey Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for making sense of No Child Left Behind, and how it has become one of the greatest factors in pushing great teachers out of education, and leading to the demise of public education one school at a time.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teachers must read this book!

[Ross Bussell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, the critique fell short, and I felt like it almost tried to apologize for NCLB instead of demand change.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking expose of the time bomb in education that is NCLB.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wonder about the current state of our educational system and how it got that way? Read this book, keep in mind the constant and dramatic cuts in funding, and you'll have a pretty good idea.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great starting point, although as an outsider to this dynamic field, it's hard to track what's changed or hasn't since its writing.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening behind the scenes view of what NCLB has meant for schools, children, teachers and society. Clearly written, mostly factual but written with a definite political bias.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese · Rating 3 out of 5]

recommended by Noddings

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks Truth!