NCLB+&+Achievement+Gap+&+Alternative+Assessment+Sec+2


 * 1) What is the issue? **
 * Gaps in educational achievement are as old as the nation itself, but it was not until 1963 that the term "achievement gap" was first recorded to describe the differences in performance among groups of students, primarily groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ability. The achievement gap is often noted when statistically analyzing an array of measures which include, but are not limited to, standardized test scores, GPA, dropout rates, and college enrollment/completion rates. In response to the achievement gap, the No Child Left Behind Act was proposed with the intent of setting high standards. In order to meet these high standards, students' growth and progress is measured through standardized testing. The act requires that all states make all students take the same standardized test in order to level the playing field, ergo bridging the achievement gap. The tests are to determine what percentage of the student body of every school in the country meets the standards. Fact based knowledge has always been the bread and butter of grading in the American educational system. Teachers in the past have had students regurgitating information on tests and quizzes that make up large percents of their grades. By using this model, teachers can lose sight of the goal of education (learning!) while they are more concerned with late papers and having all students, regardless of how they learn best, memorizing facts, names and dates for multiple choice, true/false or short essay questions on high stakes tests. Considering all we know about how students' needs differ depending on their learning styles, shouldn't the best ways to grade their improvement and learning differ also? Many teachers are branching out and trying to incorporate different kinds of assessment to cater to students' needs and show overall student improvement in other ways.


 * 2) History of the issue. **
 * Traditionally schools have tried to educate all of their students but many have slipped through the gaps. Especially students who are in ethnic and racial minorities here in the United States. By signing this act into law the government hoped to make schools accountable for the number of students who were succeeding thus forcing them to work towards the goal of all students meeting the same standards. This would hopefully, decrease the achievement gap between white students and minority students.
 * Originally government officials argued about which subjects were the most essential for students to learn. In the end two things were decided. One, schools would be required to meet their state standards rather than meet a set of national ones. Two, since no one could agree on the importance of the arts, social studies and science the act focused its attention on the skills of reading, writing and math which everyone saw as being essential.
 * Grading and assessment had been pretty uniform in the nation's history, with most teacher assigning homework, tests, quizzes and projects and assigning them weighted grades. With school systems and teachers facing pressure to meet standards such as those set by NCLB, teachers have been trying to make up for the learning gap by coming up with new ways to assess the learning of their students. The most popular of these alternative assessments is portfolio assessment, with many middle and high schools around the country requiring students to assemble their best work from particular units, classes, semesters, or even years for credit. Many high schools and middle schools even require portfolio presentations for graduation.

**3) Relationship to education.**
 * Since this act came into law a number of things have happened in our schools. First, there has been a major emphasis put on standardized testing since these are the tests that decide which schools stay open and which close. In order to improve test scores states and schools have implemented practices such as, using only the easiest tests they can find to test their students, lowering the state standards so that more students can meet them, teaching only the material that is thought the be on the test and lying. Many states have lied about the scores their students received in order to keep their schools open.
 * With forms of alternative grading and assessment, the face of education as we know it is changing. The way of the future is going to involve grading practices that vary from class to class and student to student depending on the needs of the class and the subject manner. With more and more schools using portfolio assessments, teachers are looking for other ways to grade students to show student growth and learning instead of just memorization skills.


 * 4) Relationship to different philosophical schools of thought. How would those with different philosophies relate to and respond to the issue? **
 * It seems as thought the education system is currently shifting toward student-centered philosophies that encourage students to be able to explore, discover, and, in turn, learn; however the implementation of NCLB to narrow the achievement gap forces accountability through standardized testing. These standardized tests usually focus on language arts and mathematics, negating the importance of other subjects. Now, while our beliefs may be shifting toward student-centered philosophies such as Pragmatism or Existentialism, we are executing the assessment strategies of Idealists and Realists. Standardized tests do not allow students to explore material, especially when many teachers feel that they must prepare for the tests. Yet, if students are actually learning, there is no need to "prepare" for a standardized test nor a reason for teaching to the test. Unfortunately, these tests focus on basic skills and students' ability to memorize and regurgitate information instead of assessing authentic knowledge.
 * This type of emphasis on “the basics” and one high stakes testing very much belongs to the essentialist school of thought as well as to positivism, and perennialism as they deal a lot with quantitative evidence and the scientific theory. Progressivism, Constructionism, Behaviorism, and Reconstructionism don’t really like No Child Left Behind. It leaves out the student in deciding what they want to learn and puts the emphasis on learning on something that must be done in order to pass a test but then may be forgotten.
 * One of the major pros of alternative assessment and grading is that any teacher regardless of philosophical view will be able to refine and alter the grading system to meet their own vision of education. Essentialists and Idealists tend to lean more towards the current way of grading, with emphasis on testing, quizzes and memorization. Although this is true, even Essentialist and Idealist teachers have found ways to create a grading system that is more student specific and less based on testing.


 * 5) Relationship to your personal philosophy of education. **
 * Dani-
 * In my own personal philosophy of education I don’t agree with No Child Left Behind. It makes no provisions for students of different ability levels, it refuses to allow students who speak another language to take the test in a language other than English, it forces states to lie and cheat in order to keep their schools up and running, it penalizes schools that already are stretching funding thin but taking more money from them and it forces teachers to teach to a test which to me is not real teaching. It in no way inspires students to want to learn for the sake of learning. It in no way engages them or teaches them how to be critical thinkers. It eliminates all of the personal nuances about teaching that I think are important in having a successful classroom and a successful school.
 * Sarah -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In my own personal philosophy, I believe that students do need to be assessed for their learning, but I do not necessarily believe that the grading and assessment needs to follow the traditional ideas of grading. Although most of my educational views are pretty traditional, I think that it is important to use a grading system that not only works for the students in your classroom but that also works for you as an educator and makes sense with the material that you are teaching. I feel that education is about learning and the process of learning, not about memorization and the ability to regurgitate information in specific ways on tests and quizzes. I feel that when standards and assignments are rigid and uniform the actual development of the student becomes lost in the mix.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tracey -
 * The achievement gap is prevalent in mathematics and in order to close the gap changes must be made. As an educator, I believe that by making changes, the educational gap will narrow. Such changes may include becoming a leader in advocating equity in math education, creating awareness, being current with trends and research, creating a safe environment for all students, increasing parent and community involvement, reducing class size, creating high expectations, thoroughly meeting standards, and working to expand policies in order to address the social, political, and cultural issues that contribute to the achievement gap.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6) Analysis of the issue and how it’s affected and will affect what you do as a professional educator. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dani -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite my dislike of this act and what it has done to the educational system I do realize that I will have to live with the consequences. It has forced the world to look more closely at how we view education. In this way I hope that by implementing the strategies that I believe work for me and my students I can show that teaching to a test does nothing to help students achieve excellence in the real world or on a standardized test. As a professional educator I am going to continue doing what works while working to meet my state’s standards and hope that things change.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sarah -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Alternative assessment is absolutely the future of education. Already in school systems the value of standardized testing and uniform grade practices are being questioned, and teachers are attending workshops and meetings to discuss other ways to show student growth. As a professional educator I will strive to try many different styles of grading and assessment and find what works for my own classes and students.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tracey -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The achievement gap is a topic that I find extremely interesting from the perspectives of both educational policy and mathematics. I have always been interested in urban schools, and the achievement gap naturally follows. In reading several pieces regarding the achievement gap, NCLB, and alternative assessment, I have been drawn to the many studies done by researchers. Reading some of the more complex pieces was interesting from a mathematical position. It will be interesting to see where my education career will take me.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7) What insights did you gain that you found applicable and not applicable to your beliefs and values? **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dani -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I learned exactly how harmful the No Child Left Behind Act has been to the educational system as a whole. I learned that I really don’t believe in standardized testing.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sarah -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I learned that students can be assessed in many ways, not just on their memorization accuracy. Students can have their learning process assessed, their improvement assessed and a number of other relevant educational topics assessed also.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tracey -
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The creation of NCLB was strongly influenced by the achievement gaps; however, I believe that by holding schools accountable through the administering of standardized tests, we are being pulled toward creating a teacher-centered classroom environment. I believe that by increasing accountability by evaluating test scores, students are being robbed of valuable class time and instead are being forced to spend time preparing for testing. I also believe that if standardized tests are closely aligned with state or national curriculum standards, teaching the content, regardless of testing, **//should//** be enough preparation. That is, if a student has truly mastered a topic, test preparation should not be necessary.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Resources: **


 * NCLB
 * Hillner, Benjamin.“Bad Policy and Bad Law: The Shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act in Bilingual Educational Policy and its Frustration of the Equal Protection Clause." [|http://www.educationlawconsortium.org/forum/2005/papers/hillner.pdf >>]
 * This article discusses the effects that the No Child Left Behind Act has had on Bilingual education. I used it to heavily in finding out exactly what types of restrictions ELL students face on the standardized tests and how this has helped or hindered their learning.
 * Ravitch, Diane. __No Child Left Behind Has Left Schools with Legacy of Institutionalized Fraud__ Juan Gonzalez. 05 March 2010. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/5/protests
 * This is an interview with Diane Ravitch former proponent of the No Child Left Behind Act. I used it a lot in looking at how the act has promoted schools to lie and cheat in order to not lose their funding.
 * Beaches and Towns Network, LLC. __Is Your Child Being Left Behind? NCLB Education Reform But Not Without Controversy.__ 2007. 20 October 2010 <http://www.nochildleftbehind.com/>.
 * This was helpful in getting a general overall on the act as well as a decent definition of what the Adequate Yearly Progress is. There were also a number of external links that I looked at.
 * "No Child Left Behind." 21 September 2004. __Education Week.__ 21 October 2010 <http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/no-child-left-behind/>.
 * This gives a very detailed overview of everything covered under the No Child Left Behind Act. I got a lot of my general information from here. It also has a number of links at the bottom which I looked through.


 * Alternative Assessment
 * Alt. Assess- [|One]
 * Alt. Assess- [|Two]
 * [|Alt. Assess. - Three]
 * [|Alt. Assess. - Four]
 * [|Alt. Assess. - Five]


 * Achievement Gap
 * [|Condition of Education 2010.pdf.zip]
 * [|Gifted & Talented.pdf]
 * [|Other Gap Stuff 2.zip]
 * [|Race.zip]
 * [|NCLB.zip]
 * [|Gender.zip]
 * [|Assessment.zip]
 * [|BW Achievement Gap ETS.pdf]