It effects teachers because it requires that the school use only “highly qualified teachers+ which may be defined a little differently in each state. There is an attempt to hire only those teachers who have sufficient credits in the subjects that they are teaching and have permanent state certification. Teachers are being judged, sometimes incorrectly by the number of students who do well in the required state tests. This, as well as for other reasons, teachers spend more time on preparing for the particular tests and less or no time on teaching other valuable parts of the curriculum. A few teachers have been known to cheat so that their students appear to have done well in testing. There is an incised demand for merit pay (it may be called other things) since there is a measurement for teacher production and perhaps quality

Students are being effected because the tests are making them study harder and they have standards which they must achieve. The testing particularly in earlier grades have caused anxiety and fear on the part of some students. It emphasis doing well on tests rather than the joy of learning in a non threatening manner. The No Child Left Behind Act allows student to score obtain free tutoring and transfer privileges if their schools do not meet requirements after a specified number of years. With the emphasis of testing in reading and math students are given less or no time for subjects like Social Studies, Math, Art, and Music. Some are receiving a very one sided and incomplete education.

The school system has been effected since they must now report to parents and others in a “report card” the comparison of students in their system based on both past history and the rest of the state. The mandated of the No Child Left Behind Act are expensive and even though some extra money is received the school system must fund part of the program itself. There is difficulty in attracting “highly qualified teachers” (not necessarily good teachers). There are many regulations from the state and federal government which must be listened to. Additional help is probably required to administer the testing program.

Most teachers and the NEA (National Education Association) believe that there are serious problems with the NCLB Act. The NCLB Act is scheduled to be ended but there is little doublet that it will be renewed with minor adjustments.

The Act is so important touching the lives of all of our children that I have just been able to scratch the surface in the areas that you have asked.

The good:

Every teacher is accountable for the content that is taught

Teachers must be subject matter competent.

Course content is far more standardized.

The Bad:

Many fun activities such as field trips, projects, and arts & Crafts are removed from the curriculum in favor of learning content and test prep.

Student achievment is measured solely by test scores.

Disproportianate amounts of resources are used on the lowest performing students (2x to 10x per student)

Schools are punished for circumstances beyond their control; if 50% of your students primarily speak Spanish, what hope is there for high scores in English.

Unfunded mandates for schools.

NCLB is a well meaning law, the problem is that no one can agree what success looks like.

Plus the general background stress of knowing that down the road we will all be punished for failing to meet an unachievable 100% success rate goal.