No Child Left Behind and Black Males

No Child Left Behind and Black Males

No child left behind

No Child Left Behind: Cause and Effect Essay

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed in 2001 in order to improve overall students' performance and to decrease the performance gap between minority and mainstream students. However other effects have emerged since its implementation. Through this cause and effect essay, author sheds light on effects of the NCLB. It has been discussed, how the NCLB has helped to improve education levels as well as how school administrators are facing challenges to meet the standards of this act.

The Influence of No Child Left Behind on Black Male Graduate Rate

The Influence of No Child Left Behind on Black Male Graduate Rate

Essay

NCLB is an educational policy that emphasizes accountability by imposing constraints on school systems. According to Gay (2007),

"The achievement gaps persist among different ethnic group, the streamlining of school curricula such that critical areas of learning required for students to have a well-rounded education are ignored, and neglecting students who will not attend academic colleges and universities after high school" (Gay, 2007, p. 13).

The no child left behind act is a disciplinary action and an accountability system that places responsibility on schools to maintain a certain score for every child. George W. Busch signed this law in 2002. Through this act it was demanded to recognize the schools where students do not "achieve proficient levels of academic skills and/or graduating with a regular high school diploma in the standard number of years" (Balfanz & Legters, 2008). Another objective was to narrow the achievement gap that separated poor children from their peers. The act's most pervasive strategy was compensatory education: supplying extra funding for schools to provide special services for economically disadvantaged students. Believing that there was a high correlation between poverty and low student achievement; Title I ESEA provided over a billion dollars to local school districts with the intent of strengthening programs and providing additional resources for poor children (Balfanz & Legters, 2008).).

Although the NCLB standards accountability system has been implemented since 2001 in the American schools, yet the achievement gap exists among children who belong to poor households and are of different race. These standards require school administrators to show test scores meeting AYP or else have to face sanctions in the form of reduced funds for schools. However, other issues like "lower size of class, advanced textbooks, furnishings, library books, technology in classrooms, hiring and retaining high qualified teachers, curricula that support knowledge required for future employment, guidance counselors, and numerous other components of academic achievement" are not addressed under NCLB.

Poor school performance is indicated frequently by standardized achievement tests, overall grade point average (GPA), and/or failure in core classes (Allensworth & Easton, 2007). During the last two decades retention rates have grown considerably. Often viewed as an indicator of previous school performance, grade retention is consistently cited in literature as a factor that increases the likelihood of dropping out of high school. Grade retention has been cited as one of the strongest negative predictors of educational attainment (Allensworth & Easton, 2007).