Analyzing No Child Left Behind Initiative

No Child Left Behind Initiative

The following will be a critique of No Child Left Behind with regards to technology integration.

The dream in most schools to have a technology program has remained unfulfilled. This is because their teachers have neither the skill nor the time to effectively incorporate technology in class. There are also limited resources for media experts to create conducive environment for students to learn. Another problem is that administrators cannot come up with a strategy that is cohesive, due to lack of technical wherewithal. Moreover, most of the educators have this misconception that the type of technology does not matter; they are all good. Therefore, technological innovations may in some occasions act as obstacles, both of and in themselves. For instance, in a case where a media expert starts to recklessly bring in different kinds of digital tools, such as hardware and software; and does not give a valid reason for how they should be used, the specialist may ignore other tools important in achieving their goals. This is because it may create a belief that there is total technological integration in the media centre. This means that unreasonable use of technology may act as an obstacle, both of and in itself, and even disrupt the success of students (Barriers to Integrating Technology - The Digital Librarian). Presently, evaluation in school is in the form of countrywide and school high-stakes examination, hence the evaluation has a critical impact, including graduation or promotion of students. The U.S. act dubbed "No Child Left Behind" insists a lot on examination, leading to a lot of pressure on both the schools, students and teachers, for them to be successful. This method of evaluation may have a number of factors that may be a hindrance to technological advancement.

Technology for Assessment Instead of Instruction/Teaching

Most schools integrate technology for the purpose of enhancing the process of evaluation instead of the process of instruction. The emphasis on this issue undermines the prospective promise of these advancements as a tool for learning and teaching, as well as cutting the cost which may have been incurred on instructional tools and software. There may be a stable supply of constant training and facilities, but the utilization of computers by teachers, for instruction, is still quite limited (Hsu, 2010). It is not known well enough, if the cause of this problem is the inadequate knowledge and skill of teachers in using computers. The effectiveness of incorporation of technology was assessed for the purpose of understanding better, how important it is for teachers to be skilled and knowledgeable in technological matters. There were two scales created to assess the skill and frequency of utilizing the available technological innovations. This was done on the basis of performance indicators by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education).

Only Focusing on Newness