The document discusses the increasing role of the federal government in education through policies like No Child Left Behind, which requires states to implement standardized testing and academic standards in order to receive federal funding. However, this level of federal involvement is controversial and has unintended consequences such as teaching to tests, increased cheating on assessments, and negative impacts on students from low-income families. The document also examines debates around testing accommodations and the high-stakes nature of standardized tests.

2.  Education is not a topic outlined in the
Constitution, so it is “the responsibility of
state governments” (211).
 Recently, the federal government has
“exercised dramatic control over schools
best represented by the federal law No
Child Left Behind” (211).
 Consequence to federal involvement in
education: political candidates can
include educational issues in their
campaigns.

3.  “Categorical Aid is money provided to
support specific federal programs and
legislation such as No Child Left Behind”
(211).
 If states accept the federal money, they
also have to accept and implement the
program’s requirements.
 This puts states and schools in a tough
place because most states need the
money, but don’t necessarily agree with
the policies attached to accepting the
money.

4. By using categorical aid of NCLB, the federal
government requires states to implement
activities including but not limited to:
 Creating academic standards and testing
programs
 Requiring public reporting of test scores
 Identifying and improving failing schools to
meet adequate yearly progress
 Using particular types of reading programs
 Offering choice plans
Is this too much??

5. In the past, state NCLB increases federal and state
departments of involvement in schools. Now states
education were small exercise the following functions in
and concentrated on: terms of education:
 Collecting educational Establish academic standards and
statistics curriculum guidelines.
 Promoting good  Test students for achievement on
schools and teacher academic standards
training  Testing teachers as part of the
 Inspecting local licensing procedure
schools  Licensing teachers
 Enacting laws that affect the
content of instruction
 Providing funds to local school
districts

6. Republican: Democrat:
 Government should  Expansion of
play a limited role in federally funded
education preschool programs
 Federal government and possibly
should identify and universal preschool
eliminate ineffective for all children.
programs  Increase teachers’
 Support choice in salaries
education for all  Provide better
families teacher training

7.  Race to the Top is a name given to the four
areas of education reform in President
Obama’s 2009 stimulus package.
 Its goal was to “shape state education
policies to meet the requirements of federal
guidelines” (216).
 “The criteria for selection of state grants
under Race to the Top included whether or
not states were willing to participate in
creating national standards, common tests,
and a data bank of student scores to be
used to evaluate teachers and support
charter school expansion” (216).

8.  How teachers and principals are paid–
higher the test scores, higher the salaries.
 Real estate prices– school districts with high
test scores are most attractive to buyers with
school-aged children.
 Instructional time in the classroom– more
time spent on test prep and testing than
actual quality instruction.
 Profits for the corporations making the tests–
testing is a for-profit industry and students are
seen as a market for these corporations.

9. High stakes testing
• Consequences for students & educators
• May determine if a child graduates or
goes on to next grade
• Scores are used to measure
performance

10.  “Modified Academic Achievement
Standards: Non- regulatory Guidance”-Pg.
221
 “states must make the reasonable
adaptations and accommodations for
students with disabilities…necessary to
measure the academic achievement of
such students relative to State academic
content and State student academic
achievement standards”- Pg. 221

11.  “immigrant ELLs can take math and
reading tests in their native language for
the first three years they attend school in
the United States. This policy can be
extended two years on a student-by-
student basis.” pg.222

12.  A major issue with the No Child Left Behind Act is the
cheating going on amongst schools.
 Forms of cheating found
 “school administrators erasing incorrect responses on
students’ answer sheets and substituting correct
answers”
 “Teachers allowing more time than test instruction
require”
 “Teachers supplying students with hints about which
answers are correct”
 “test preparation sessions using actual test items”
 Pg. 225

13.  “high stakes testing depends on the
resolution of the problems associated with
the cost, the effect on students from low-
income families, the increasing residential
segregation based on test scores, the
increasing classroom time devoted to test
preparation and test-taking, the emphasis
on lower-order thinking, the evaluation of
teachers and school administrators, and
cheating.”- Pg. 226

14.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0
WUqNO0qo4