No Child Left Behind is an inherently flawed policy because it unites what are essentially two diametrically opposed educational philosophies. These philosophies are based on the ideas of Adler on the one hand and Holt on the other (Koonce, 2016). The philosophy of Adler is that public schools should promote a democratic approach to education in the sense that all students adhere to and follow a uniform curriculum and standards. This standard curriculum is evident in No Child Left Behind. However, Holt’s philosophy is also evident in that the policy also views every child as a unique individual with his or her own special needs, which means that every student who is struggling should receive special attention to help him or her reach objectives. These two philosophical approaches are more opposed than they are aligned, and to combine the two is to present a drain on resources that most schools simply cannot afford to have happen in their districts.
The idea of producing nationwide standards for all students in public schools is unrealistic, as educational approaches and standards will vary from region to region, district to district and school to school. Instead of obliging all schools to operate...
5). Instead of trying to control schools from the top down and thus limiting many teachers and students in terms of what they can do and how they can do it, the central government should rather promote, encourage and support schools in identifying what it is they can do best given their resources and helping them to achieve the goals that are unique to their circumstances. No Child Left Behind does not do this: instead, it obliges schools to approach education in a way that rewards testing rather than knowledge acquisition (U.S. Departmetn of Education, 2015): the more students who can “pass” a test, the more…
