No More Invisible Kids
The article No More Invisible Kids identifies the strengths of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy. Haycock highlights that NCLB has led to improved academic performance “of the poor and minority students, English learners and students with disabilities…” (Haycock, 2006). This is evident in the research done in different States as educators were able to recognize differences in performance among students due to disability, income, race and ethnicity which they were able to address based on student’s need.
Despite the effects of NCLB in narrowing the performance gap among students from the different races, it has failed to address race and performance as there is difference in performance among the African Americans and Latinos in comparison with the whites. Additionally, the performance of the races in different subjects varies. Consequently, NCLB appears to be effective on certain groups like in elementary grade and middle grade unlike in high school where research revealed it did not have impact (Haycock, 2006).
Haycock recommends reasonable checklists like “NCLB accountability provisions” and the expansion of resources to help in improving performance among “persistently low-performing schools” and teaching content relevant “to real-world standards” (Haycock, 2006). NCLB’s main goal is to focus on student’s academic achievement but the emphasis on the importance of considering the facilitators (educators) of the required change will divert the purpose of NCLB. Additionally, the recommendation of “teacher quality” is irrational. Haycock argues that the poor and minority students are disadvantaged in accessing high-quality teaching but based on the research, “adding more depth to the curriculum and ensuring that students in special education had access to the same enrichment programs…” can help in improving performance (Haycock, 2006). Therefore, Haycock is contradicting himself.
In conclusion, though No More Invisible Kids highlights on the effectiveness of NCLB policy, Haycock’s recommendation on the consideration of “teacher quality” is irrelevant as teachers are qualified to teach as they go through the recommended training and there could be other factors that affect the teacher’s performance in a class setting. However, teaching content relevant “to real-world standards” and NCLB accountability provisions will ensure that “no more invisible kids.”
References
Haycock, K. (2006). No more invisible kids. Educational Leadership, 64(3), 38-42.
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