No Child Left Behind Does Not Work

Surprise!  Surprise!  No child left behind does not work.

It's 2014. All Children Are Supposed To Be Proficient. What Happened? NPR

I know students who got through high school (and graduated) by getting mostly Ds and with some Fs decorating their record.  It started back in elementary school when those kids were doing poorly and yet were passed along to the next grade.  So, the problems weren't dealt with and the students were passed along year by year.

The thought process was clearly flawed.  Maybe the kids would catch up with other students the next year or the year after that?

Playing catch up is hard especially with the mounting years of not being on the same playing field.

The problem multiplied into middle school and ultimately, into high school.  The Ds were considered passing grades and that's why those students still graduated from high school.

When I asked one of the parents of one of these kids she told me, "This is the way No Child Left Behind works.  No child is left behind and moves on with the other students as long as they earn a passing a grade."  It made no sense to her either.  She thought maybe if her child had started a year later in kindergarten it would have been easier to find success.  But some kids will never be test takers so who knows.

I never thought that was the meaning of No Child Left Behind, but that's what it came to mean to some educators.  Don't have any student repeat a grade to catch up, become proficient and find success.  Instead, pass them along and don't leave them behind the other kids.

I think it's all a misinterpretation of what was intended to make sure kids were proficient.

Parents now have to be the deciding factor in whether their children are passed along or potentially start a year later in kindergarten.  Is my child school ready?  That is the healthy question to ask before your child starts school.