Education Philosophy – No Child Left Behind
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Resource 2: Module 3 Resources
No Child Left Behind
Recently, the federal government is taking a more active regulatory role in education reform. As you have discovered, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBTPS) defined exemplary teacher performance and identified the process by which teachers could demonstrate that performance. Setting standards is one thing. Actually achieving them is quite a different matter. Consequently, in 2002, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (
The educator also needs to be aware of issues that result from the mandates of NCLB. These include: inadequate funding; punishment rather than assistance for failing schools; standardized testing as sole criterion of achievement; unresolved issues of school choice, home schooling, and charter schools; lack of focus on socioeconomic causes of poor performance; student transiency (McKenzie, J. (2003) No Child Left in Bellingham, WA: FNO Press (
State Professional Teaching Standards
Historically, education has been governed at the local and state levels. States generally set their own teaching standards. According to data on Title II Technical Assistance (2003) (
State standards generally parallel those of the NBTPS. In compliance with NCLB, states also defined High Quality Teacher, usually by fortifying their state teacher certification requirements. States require teachers to demonstrate knowledge in subject areas and skills in teaching for licensure. Many state departments of education use standardized testing, often the Praxis SeriesTM of Educational Testing Series (ETS) to meet this requirement (
Students need to investigate their state teacher standards, state response to NCLB and definition of High Quality Teacher through their state department of education (
Standards of Professional Organizations for Special Education
What is most important to special educators is the impact of NCLB on implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-97) and the requirements for teaching students with disabilities. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (2002) has identified areas of clarity and confusion relating to the impact of NCLB on special education, and has provided suggestions to plan for the implementation of NCLB. For example, according to NCLB, academic standards, adequate yearly progress, improved graduation