No Child Left Behind legislation lays out a performance plan that states and their individual school districts must adhere to. The positive side of NCLB is that schools are held accountable for student achievement. Every person in a school should feel responsible for every student and their success. Your actions, whether you are a janitor or the principal, reflects upon the students who walk in that school everyday. As a taxpayer who will have children going to school in a few years, I want my children's school to be a place where I know they are meet with high expectation. The way in which the legislation currently reads I feel that the teachers are ultimately held accountable for their students' achievement. They are held accountable by only how well they prepare students to take a standardized test. How do we determine the achievement level of students by how well they take one test during a one week time period? The debate grows when some see a correlation between success on the test and the time of year the test is taken. Many believe that more students would show higher scores if the test were taken in the spring instead of the fall. This would give teachers and students more time to prepare and review. The negative side of NCLB is that NCLB legislation is all data-driven. Anytime one deals with data there can be mistakes in reporting that data or errors in the way the data is interpreted. Data is only true when it is accurate and consistent. My school district is a good example of errors in interpretation of what determines graduation rate. For years we have been calculating graduation rate with students who have left school and promised to take the GED. This has made Shelbyville Central Schools reflect a much higher graduation rate than what was in actuality. When the graduation rate was recalculated our school district had one of the lowest rates in the state. In April of this year Time magazine featured Shelbyville High School in its cover story entitled Dropout Nation. To read article go to the link section. This article examined graduation rates and also discussed legislation brought forth by state representative Luke Messer. The purpose of the legislation was to change the process for dropping out of school and to improve graduation rates statewide. To read more about the legislation go to the link section.

We have to follow the provisions laid out by NCLB whether we agree with it or not. How do incorporate into our daily teaching practices the core of NCLB and make our students successful at the same time? I believe the answer lies within a school community. That school community involves students, teachers, parents, administration, community leaders, and politicians. If everyone in the school community is well informed and trained to understand the terminologies and expectations of NCLB and the local schools improvement plan, then we may see improvement. If there is an understanding to why something is being taught and the importance placed on it, then we might see better performance on standardized tests.

Resource Links:
No Child Left Behind and Data-Driven Decision Making
This article examines the demands of NCLB and data.
Indiana's NCLB Site
This site has NCLB reports for and from the Indiana Department of Education
Education's Data Management Initiative...
This report contains recommendations for the department of education to improve its data gathering