Essay 4 Point A

Although it has become a main focal point in many classrooms across the country, test preparation is not the best teaching method to get students ready for their future.  Under the No Child Left Behind Act, students are required to pass state-wide tests in certain subject areas.  Educators are concerned about their students passing the standardized tests; therefore, numerous teachers are “teaching to the test” (“No Child Left Behind”).  Standardized testing forces teachers to skip over other important lessons and place emphasis on preparing students for examinations (“No Child Left Behind”).  As a member of the Senate, current President Obama said, “One of the failures of No Child Left Behind, a law that I think a lot of local and state officials have been troubled by, is that it is so narrowly focused on standardized tests that it has pushed out a lot of important learning that needs to take place” (Chute).  Kids are forced to spend a great deal of time focusing on reading and math, which means they are not learning as much in other subject areas that do not require testing (Dillon).  The Center on Education Policy conducted a survey in 2006, just five years after the law was put into effect, and discovered that approximately seventy-one percent of U.S. school districts decreased the time spent on subjects such as history, science, music, and art (“No Child Left Behind”).  Overall, test preparation takes away from students’ learning experience.

Supporters of the No Child Left Behind Act perceive the law as effective due to the student improvement that has been seen across the nation.  They claim that students retain more information when being prepared for tests and that knowing the information required for the test enforces basic skills.  Proponents also argue that schools are right to spend more time on reading and math because it is essential to know these subjects, and they are used in other classes (“No Child Left Behind”).  The No Child Left Behind Act also provides a way to review teacher effectiveness.  The tests show students’ understanding of the material, and it is believed that an effective teacher is responsible for making sure each child understands the information (Spellings).  Before the law was put into effect, teachers were not held responsible for teaching material to their students.  No outside tests were given to determine whether or not the teacher was actually doing their job (“No Child Left Behind”).  When the law was put into effect, it ensured that students would meet certain standards by proving knowledge of basic skills and that their teachers would teach them the necessary material.

The No Child Left Behind Act needs to be revised to benefit students across the country.  If teachers were not forced to dedicate so much time to standardized test preparation, kids would learn more in a variety of different subjects, helping them become well-rounded and better educated.  Possessing a strong foundation in basic skills does not help the student if there is no time allotted to move beyond the basics.  Some students are already comfortable with the basic content and are ready to move on to new material.  The No Child Left Behind Act does not challenge advanced students because so much time is spent trying to pull along students who are behind (“No Child Left Behind).  Evaluating the effectiveness of teachers should not be based on standardized testing.  Teachers can make adjustments based on feedback given to them about their teaching methods.  They should be observed in their classrooms to determine whether or not they are effective.  Teacher experience, organization, and classroom management skills are factors to assess that do not involve testing the students (Stronge 11-12).