No Child Left Behind Fails it's Own Test

Based on today's headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 92 Wisconsin schools have not met the criteria required in the No Child Left Behind education policy. Let me preface my comments by saying that there is clearly room for improvement in some of our schools, particularly those in urban communities. That being said, Perhaps the No Child Left Behind standards should not be the tool used to measure our progress.

The recently released results of a Harvard study of NCLB leave much to be desired. This from a Reuters report on the study:

U.S. President George W. Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education policy is failing to close racial achievement gaps and will miss its goals by 2014 according to recent trends, a Harvard study said on Wednesday.

It said the policy has had no significant impact on improving reading and math achievement since it was introduced in 2001, contradicting White House claims and potentially adding to concerns over America's academic competitiveness.

The report reveals that test scores in reading, math and science have remained flat since the implementation of NCLB. The study also "predicts less than 25 percent of poor and black students will hit the 2014 target in reading proficiency and less than 50 percent in math, with the overall racial achievement gap barely closing by 2014."

Whatever the solutions to Wisconsin's challenges in education, it does not appear that NCLB should be among them.