Excerpt from my paper on No Child Left Behind
There are many political factors that played a part in the creation of No Child Left Behind, but the three most significant political factors that shaped this policy were the limited pay-off from past policies, the achievement gap, and global competition.
As education policies have developed and changed over the years, there has been a major shift in the reasoning behind the policies. Political factors that influences previous education policies include national security, war on poverty, and rights for minority students and students with disabilities. As past policies fail, and as the nation evolves, the political factors behind education policies change. When education reform first began with policies such as National Defense Education Act (NDEA), passed in 1958, the major concern for America’s K-12 educational system was national security. Education and national security are directly related because the United States was falling behind other dominant countries in education in mathematic and science, and this was thought to make the country an easy target. This concern was sparked during the Cold War when the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite into space in 1957. American’s were afraid of Communist domination in space and many believed that American schools had too low of academic standards. “U.S. schools were seen as graduating insufficient scientists and engineers to compete with a resurgent Soviet empire. Reformers called for tougher math and science courses and better-trained teachers” (Cuban, p. 5). While national security was a major political factor in creating original educational policies, that is not longer a major concern today.
The failing economy and the increase in poverty created fear in Americans, so the war on poverty because a major political factor in past policies such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), passed in 1965 (Alford, 1965). “In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals…Over the next decade, the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, bit it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent” (National Poverty Center, 2013). This large amount of poverty led to wide spread anxiety across America. The War on Poverty was a major political factor in shaping past policies, but is not longer a concern today.
The third significant political factor that helped shaped past policies, but that is no longer a major factor is the rights for disabled students and racial minority students. The civil rights movement is still important today, but it is not a MAJOR political factor behind NCLB. Many people believe that the court case Brown v. Board of Education, was one of the leading causes of bringing the civil rights movement into schools. This case “drew attention to the widespread academic failure among blacks in both northern and southern schools” (Cuban, p.5). According to Henderson, the court case, Brown v. Board of Education, took place on May 17, 1954 and ruled that it was unconstitutional to have separate schools for black and white students. This ruling overthrew the previous decision Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed for segregation as long as the two were equal. The desire for rights for disabled students and racial minorities influenced policies such as The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and amendments made to Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, 1966, and 1968 (Howard University).
Political factors that influences previous education policies include national security, war on poverty, and rights for minority students and students with disabilities. As past policies fail, and as the nation evolves, the political factors behind education policies change. “Over the past 30 years, accountability policies governing public elementary and secondary education have evolved…Policy has moved from a traditional focus on accountability for finances and fairness to emphasize accountability for performance (McDonnell, pp. 170,172). Now that past policies with limited pay-offs and their influence on NCLB have been discussed, this paper will discuss the achievement gap and global competition in regards to influencing No Child Left Behind.
Trying to close the achievement gap was a major political factor that helped create and influence No Child Left Behind. Bush wanted to “expand equality of opportunity” by “ending racial discrimination and break the link between poverty and academic under-achievement in schools” (Cuban, p.5). According to Zhang & Cowen the achievement gap is defined as “a persistent disparity between minority an low-income students and their more privileged white peers on measurable test scores” (p.24). It has been a reoccurring problem that “economically disadvantaged and minority students have been scoring lower than their white peers in terms of academic achievement” (p.24). “Closing this achievement gap has been a long-standing concern of parents, educators, and policymakers, and has been set as a national priority by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001” (p.24). According to Zhang & Cowen, the achievement gap is usually defined by race and class, but it should also be looked at by the gap between different schools and different geographical settings. No Child Left Behind tries to decrease the achievement gap by requiring all states to set standards and test on those standards. This tries to ensure that the education students are receiving is similar for all schools. Another way the achievement gap has influenced NCLB is school choice. “NCLB is the first federal law that makes public school choice available for students who are enrolled in underachieving or unsafe schools” (Zhang & Cowen, p.25). It is obvious that the achievement gap is a political factor that had a major impact on the creation of NCLB.
The other major political factor that has had an impact on NCLB is global competition. America is still falling behind the other dominate countries. According to Gropman, there are tests that are given to children internationally to compare how well different countries are educating their youth. An example is the Program for International Student Assessment. They test fifteen year olds in math, science, and reading literacy. “On the latest test, in 2003, U.S. students scored below the international average and did significantly worse than students from 20 of the 30 participating countries” (Gropman, p.24). America is no longer worried that being less advanced in mathematics and science is a threat to national security, but rather that it is a threat to being considered an advanced dominate nation. America does not want to be seen as falling short of other powerful countries; it makes the US look weak. The United States wants to be able to compete with other top countries in educating the youth, especially in mathematics and science. Global competition is a major political factor that helped shape No Child Left Behind.
There are many political factors that played a part in the creation of No Child Left Behind, but the three most significant political factors that shaped this policy were the limited pay-off from past policies, the achievement gap, and global competition.
As education policies have developed and changed over the years, there has been a major shift in the reasoning behind the policies. Political factors that influences previous education policies include national security, war on poverty, and rights for minority students and students with disabilities. As past policies fail, and as the nation evolves, the political factors behind education policies change. When education reform first began with policies such as National Defense Education Act (NDEA), passed in 1958, the major concern for America’s K-12 educational system was national security. Education and national security are directly related because the United States was falling behind other dominant countries in education in mathematic and science, and this was thought to make the country an easy target. This concern was sparked during the Cold War when the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite into space in 1957. American’s were afraid of Communist domination in space and many believed that American schools had too low of academic standards. “U.S. schools were seen as graduating insufficient scientists and engineers to compete with a resurgent Soviet empire. Reformers called for tougher math and science courses and better-trained teachers” (Cuban, p. 5). While national security was a major political factor in creating original educational policies, that is not longer a major concern today.
The failing economy and the increase in poverty created fear in Americans, so the war on poverty because a major political factor in past policies such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), passed in 1965 (Alford, 1965). “In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals…Over the next decade, the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, bit it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent” (National Poverty Center, 2013). This large amount of poverty led to wide spread anxiety across America. The War on Poverty was a major political factor in shaping past policies, but is not longer a concern today.
The third significant political factor that helped shaped past policies, but that is no longer a major factor is the rights for disabled students and racial minority students. The civil rights movement is still important today, but it is not a MAJOR political factor behind NCLB. Many people believe that the court case Brown v. Board of Education, was one of the leading causes of bringing the civil rights movement into schools. This case “drew attention to the widespread academic failure among blacks in both northern and southern schools” (Cuban, p.5). According to Henderson, the court case, Brown v. Board of Education, took place on May 17, 1954 and ruled that it was unconstitutional to have separate schools for black and white students. This ruling overthrew the previous decision Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed for segregation as long as the two were equal. The desire for rights for disabled students and racial minorities influenced policies such as The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and amendments made to Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, 1966, and 1968 (Howard University).
Political factors that influences previous education policies include national security, war on poverty, and rights for minority students and students with disabilities. As past policies fail, and as the nation evolves, the political factors behind education policies change. “Over the past 30 years, accountability policies governing public elementary and secondary education have evolved…Policy has moved from a traditional focus on accountability for finances and fairness to emphasize accountability for performance (McDonnell, pp. 170,172). Now that past policies with limited pay-offs and their influence on NCLB have been discussed, this paper will discuss the achievement gap and global competition in regards to influencing No Child Left Behind.
Trying to close the achievement gap was a major political factor that helped create and influence No Child Left Behind. Bush wanted to “expand equality of opportunity” by “ending racial discrimination and break the link between poverty and academic under-achievement in schools” (Cuban, p.5). According to Zhang & Cowen the achievement gap is defined as “a persistent disparity between minority an low-income students and their more privileged white peers on measurable test scores” (p.24). It has been a reoccurring problem that “economically disadvantaged and minority students have been scoring lower than their white peers in terms of academic achievement” (p.24). “Closing this achievement gap has been a long-standing concern of parents, educators, and policymakers, and has been set as a national priority by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001” (p.24). According to Zhang & Cowen, the achievement gap is usually defined by race and class, but it should also be looked at by the gap between different schools and different geographical settings. No Child Left Behind tries to decrease the achievement gap by requiring all states to set standards and test on those standards. This tries to ensure that the education students are receiving is similar for all schools. Another way the achievement gap has influenced NCLB is school choice. “NCLB is the first federal law that makes public school choice available for students who are enrolled in underachieving or unsafe schools” (Zhang & Cowen, p.25). It is obvious that the achievement gap is a political factor that had a major impact on the creation of NCLB.
The other major political factor that has had an impact on NCLB is global competition. America is still falling behind the other dominate countries. According to Gropman, there are tests that are given to children internationally to compare how well different countries are educating their youth. An example is the Program for International Student Assessment. They test fifteen year olds in math, science, and reading literacy. “On the latest test, in 2003, U.S. students scored below the international average and did significantly worse than students from 20 of the 30 participating countries” (Gropman, p.24). America is no longer worried that being less advanced in mathematics and science is a threat to national security, but rather that it is a threat to being considered an advanced dominate nation. America does not want to be seen as falling short of other powerful countries; it makes the US look weak. The United States wants to be able to compete with other top countries in educating the youth, especially in mathematics and science. Global competition is a major political factor that helped shape No Child Left Behind.