Welcome to NSTA's WebNews Analysis, a feature designed to help science educators monitor and study the latest issues in education and science. The NSTA WebNews Analysis offers teachers a digest of online news articles focusing on a particular issue of importance to science educators.
We hope this service will enable you to catch up on the news you may have missed. More importantly, however, NSTA's WebNews Analysis can help you stay on top of issues affecting your science classroom.
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has generated plenty of discussion and several myths in recent months. Signed into law by President Bush in 2002, the federal education reform bill aims to improve student achievement in public schools through assessment and accountability provisions, teacher quality requirements, and other mandates.
Many lawmakers, educators, and political candidates have voiced opposition to the law, claiming it's so flawed that Congress needs to change it. Several legislators have noted there is a lack of federal funding to pay for the demands the law places on the states. Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has vowed to dismantle the NCLB Act, but keep the "good pieces" in it. In a recent interview with Education Week, Dean said he liked "the desegregation of student scores" by racial, ethnic, and other key subgroups. "What I hate is the unfunded mandates and the mindless adherence to third-through-eighth [grade] testing." Dean called the requirement that schools show adequate yearly progress "ridiculous."
More than 100 superintendents and education leaders, however, recently endorsed the law through a joint letter sent to Congress. These proponents have urged lawmakers to resist pressure to scale back the law's accountability provisions. The Education Trust, a Washington-based organization that advocates for disadvantaged students, coordinated the letter-signing project in an effort to offset what it views as a rise in rhetoric that targets the law.
Science educators can learn more about the various discussions concerning the NCLB Act by reading the following articles or checking out the resources listed at www.nsta.org/nclb.