2/25 - Week 6: How has NCLB and testing affected your classroom?

How has NCLB and testing affected your classroom? Teaching upperclassmen physics implies that my students have taken and passed the HSPA. Although standarized testing does not directly impact my classroom setting, NCLB does. "NCLB is the latest federal legislation from 2001 which enacts the theories of standards-based education reform, formerly known as outcome-based education, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades, if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. " (Wikipedia, 2001). The goal is to have compliance of all school districts by 2014. The concept of NCLB is a good one and falls in line with a differentiated classroom. In an effort to support both reading and writing skills - writing across disciplines has been initiated at many schools at all grade levels including seniors. One of the shortcomings of NCLB is that the school districts can determine what needs to be done to avoid noncompliance. Often in order for school districts to avoid failing they search for short-term solutions—test preparation, for example—rather than longer-term, more powerful solutions, such as curriculum-focused professional