No Child Left Behind is Leaving Children Behind

I am sitting in a room with three children. These children are 17 years old. One does not speak English, and when we give her a Gujarati dictionary, she does not seem to know how to hold it, but she smiles pleasantly and looks at her test book studiously as I read her the test questions. Another spends over half an hour painfully struggling to read a one and a half page story in order to answer questions on it. She slides her finger under the words, and frequently looks up in frustration. I nod at her encouragingly and she returns to work. The third is finished in under 15 minutes but he does not appear to have actually read a single one of the questions. Every one of these children is classified with a specific learning disability (and in the case of the first, also as an English language learner). Every one of these children must pass the rigorous three day state test that I am currently proctoring. Otherwise, it means we've left them behind.

Behind WHAT?

A brief primer in No Child Left Behind. NCLB was the education plan on which Bush campaigned in 2000. It was based upon the success of a similar plan in Texas, affectionately known as the "Houston Miracle" - which by the way NEVER HAPPENED (for more information see this article). NCLB was the first piece of domestic legislation passed after 9/11, and it was passed with bipartisan support because it sounded so appealing.

While there are certainly many admirable provisions in this law (most of which were never funded, but that's a cry for another day), the most notable provision is the testing provision. By the year 2015, every child is to be passing a state level test at every grade level. There are gradual benchmarks set up for each year that passes. Currently, schools must maintain pass rates of 85%. That may not sound difficult. However, the schools are required to reach that benchmark in ever subgroup. Subgroups include, but are not limited to: children with disabilities, English language learners, and students with low SES. This means that 85% of ESL students must pass the state tests. 85% of special ed students must pass the state tests.