An interest in an educational vocation in the U.S. may have you curious about the phrase “No Child Left Behind.” Abbreviated NCLB, this was the title of an act that passed into law in early 2002 and was signed by then President Bush. It was an update of a much earlier education act, called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) which originally got passed by President Johnson in the 1960s. The NCLB act promoted a really strong role for the federal government in holding schools in all states to high standards for students from all walks of life. Although its ideals were understandable and perhaps a good idea, people across the political spectrum ended up having issues with it.
NCLB’s Original Goals
The original thought behind the NCLB Act was that it was important to help students achieve a lot academically no matter where they lived or what their socioeconomic or ethnic background was. Leaders in different fields, such as business and civil rights, saw that there was sometimes a big difference in student achievements in terms of different backgrounds and environments, and they wanted to find a way to decrease those differences. They also hoped that the could make the country more competitive internationally by increasing student achievements. The idea was that the federal government would supply money to schools working with students who did not have as many advantages as other students, especially if the schools met certain standards regarding how they tested students and how students did on the tests, especially in basic areas like math and reading. Financial help and less intervention in how the schools had to use the money would theoretically compel schools to meet the harder and higher standards.
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Problems and Changes in the Law
Although many of the ideas behind No Child Left Behind were laudable, a number of people across the political spectrum found difficulties with the law and the way it needed to be carried out. Schools and teachers sometimes struggled with the ways they felt forced to teach to get students ready for the required testing, and they also sometimes felt that the testing put too much focus on certain subject areas (the aforementioned math and reading) without leaving enough time and space to incorporate learning in other important subject areas. Over the years, some changes were made to the law and some other projects were implemented to try to make it more effective.
The most recent changes involved in how U.S. education is carried out came through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which got signed into law under President Obama in 2015. The new law builds on some of the good goals and ideas of the original NCLB act, but implements some necessary positive changes, especially because it draws more on states and local areas and their ideas about how to invest in and change things to help students who need extra help. While No Child Left Behind is no longer the main slogan or focus for U.S. education, it did help train the spotlight on some of the areas that needed addressing regarding disadvantaged students and their needs.
