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THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT HAS NOT YET BEEN TESTED — has it been three years? Why do we sound like NCLB never left? A look back across the 3-year expanse after the PTSD has begun to abate.
by Donn K. Harris
September, 2015: What Happens When the Every Student Succeeds Act Doesn’t Succeed?
The 2001 federal educational law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was a skillfully marketed attempt to balance all sides of the educational equation: for schools and districts, incremental gains in achievement were acceptable, as long as all subgroups gained at least the minimum; low-performing schools were both stigmatized and forced into supports; cohort groups were created in some states so that one could compare oneself against schools deemed “similar” based on transitory rates and socioeconomic data.
There were new credential requirements, a new designation called “Highly Qualified,” and in some cases teachers with credentials were not “Highly Qualified” depending on whether they received their credentials through coursework or testing — high school science in particular began demanding specialized credentials in Physics, Biology and Chemistry as opposed to the more general “Physical” and “Life” Science…
