The entire environment of the school system and the administrative structure has changed rapidly in the past few years. Teachers are now being held more accountable and students are required to test more frequently. Many of these changes also happened nine years ago, with the introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

1. How it started

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was signed on January 8, 2002 by President Bush, according to Education Week. It is, “a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,” which is, “the central federal law in pre-collegiate education.”

2. The act before NCLB

No Child Left Behind is an amended version of a previous act, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This act, “emphasizes equal access to education, establishes high standards and accountability, and requires the inclusion of all students with disabilities in the student achievement system,” according to The Association of University Centers on Disabilities.

3. Changes to Education

With the amended act, many changes arose when new rules on annual testing and academic progress were established.

A few of those changes, according to Education Week, include:

• “By the 2005-06 school year, states must begin testing students in grades 3-8 annually in reading and mathematics”
• “States must bring all students up to the “proficient” level on state tests by the 2013-14 school year”
• “Starting with the 2002-03 school year, states must furnish annual report cards showing a range of information, including student-achievement data broken down by subgroup and information on the performance of school districts. Districts must provide similar report cards showing school-by-school data”
• “By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school must be “highly qualified” in each subject he or she teaches. Under the law, “highly qualified” generally means that a teacher is certified and demonstrably proficient in his or her subject matter”
• “The act creates a new competitive-grant program called Reading First, funded at $1.02 billion in 2004, to help states and districts set up “scientific, research-based” reading programs for children in grades K-3”
• “Through an alteration in the Title I funding formula, the No Child Left Behind Act is expected to better target resources to school districts with high concentrations of poor children”

4. Weighing the pros and cons

The introduction of No Child Left Behind upset and infuriated some educators, who do not find the new stipulations fair for every student.

“Empirical research does not support the belief that all children can learn the same curriculum, in the same amount of time, and at the same level,” William Bainbridge wrote in his 2002 article, “Leaving Children Behind.” He is a Professor at the University of Dayton.

“The problem with such an unsubstantiated belief is that it may be used to deny differential financial support for those who come to school with environmental disadvantages. Not all children have high-quality nutrition, stimulating homes, and extensive learning opportunities prior to entering school,” he said in the article.

Others support NCLB because of the way it focuses on accountability. In many ways, the law made schools and districts more accountable for the instruction of their students.

“Accountability to parents, taxpayers and students themselves is a major objective of the law,” a news article in the Winfield Daily Courier said.

5. Is it working?

In recent news, there have been a few reports of the progress of NCLB.

“Four of every five Rhode Island public schools met all of the 2010-11 targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), according to annual school performance classifications,” GoLocalProv reported on May 6, 2011.

Other news stories don’t leave the reader so convinced. For many years, there have been reports that NCLB has taken away most of the funding for arts in the classroom, due to the fact that money is being put elsewhere—mainly into programs or private tutoring that increases test scores, some educators purport.

“It (NCLB) makes no provision for the arts, which are not part of the reading, math and other proficiency testing. The law is putting the arts on the endangered list nationwide in schools. With budget cutbacks, children aren’t getting exposed to other…art museums,” Louis Duiguid wrote in an April 2011 article for The Kansas City Star.

The next big test will arrive in the school year of 2013-14, when “states must bring all students up to the “proficient” level on state tests,” according to Education Week.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Standardized testing is the bane of some students’ existence as they go through school. Students start getting nervous in the weeks before, as their teachers are taking class time up with preparation worksheets and tips. Standardized tests have been in America for more than 50 years, according to Time Magazine‘s “A Brief History of Standardized Testing.”

Where did testing start?

Testing for students started in China. “The earliest record of standardized testing comes from China, where hopefuls for government jobs had to fill out examinations testing their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry,” A Brief History of Standardized Testing said.

Today, testing may be done for a different purpose–to aid in efficiency.

“But as the Industrial Revolution (and the progressive movement of the early 1800s that followed) took school-age kids out of the farms and factories and put them behind desks, standardized examinations emerged as an easy way to test large numbers of students quickly,” TIME said. Large-scale testing is a quick way to test students over the same subject material.

How do schools use standardized tests?

Schools and school districts use tests for many different purposes.

“Schools use standardized tests to determine if children are ready for school, track them into instructional groups; diagnose for learning disability and other handicaps; and decide whether to promote, retain in grade, or graduate many students. Schools also use tests to guide and control curriculum content and teaching methods,” FairTest.org said.

Tests impact school statistics

FairTest.org also said that districts use the scores to show school improvement and changes in study habits.

“In many districts, raising test scores has become the single most important indicator of school improvement. As a result, teachers and administrators feel enormous pressure to ensure that test scores go up. Schools narrow and change the curriculum to match the test. Teachers teach only what is covered on the test. Methods of teaching conform to the multiple-choice format of the tests. Teaching more and more resembles testing,” the website said.

Test Taking Tips

1. Get positive about taking tests

2. Clear the brain for learning and testing

3. Prepare for the test “strategically”

4. Become familiar with test-taking techniques

5. Take a practice test-or even better, take several practice tests

From: “How to Do Your Best on Standardized Tests.”

How Teachers Feel About Testing

There  are many aspects of testing that might have teachers worried.  From preparing students to understanding how to administer the test, there are many things an educator might wonder or worry about, such as classroom performance.

For information about teachers’ merit pay from tests, check out this Funderstanding article.

“A student’s performance on a standardized test is influenced by many things: some obvious, some elusive, some over which educators have control, and others over which they do not,” an article on the education website TeacherCreated.com said.

To read more about testing perceptions, view this Funderstanding article by Bob Sullo.

Other testing strategies

TeacherCreated.com recommends a few ways to prepare students for the testing time of year. These include:

● “Begin talking about good habits at the beginning of the year. Talk about getting enough sleep, eating a good breakfast, and exercising before and after school. Consider sending home a letter encouraging parents to start these good routines with their children at home.

● Explain the power of positive thought to your students. Tell them to use their imaginations to visualize themselves doing well. Let them know that they have practiced all year and are ready for what is to come.

● Remember to let students stretch and walk around between tests. Try using “Simon Says” with younger students throughout the year to get them to breathe deeply, stretch, and relax so it won’t be a novel idea during test time,”

More resources for educators

If you’re feeling stressed about testing your students, a few sites are out there to help any last-minute worries:

-Combating Testing Pressures

-Standardized Testing and Its Victims

-The Dilemma of Testing

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reaced at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

The education of the young mind is an important step in readying the child for future learning experiences. The evolution of early childhood education has transformed how adults and parents view the importance of offering stimulating and exciting opportunities to the very young.  Early childhood education offers toddlers learning experiences that benefit them throughout their educational career.

History of Early Childhood Education

According to Pre-K Now, the concept of early childhood education started with a European mother in the early 1800’s that educated children outside of their homes. The idea came to America during the Industrial Revolution with “infant schools” set up in churches, factories, and private homes to care for the young while parents were working. The state of Wisconsin created constitutional amendments to include committees dedicated to free education of children aged four to twenty in 1848 and then later, in 1873, started the first four year old kindergarten program.

As time progressed, other states began to follow Wisconsin’s lead in the area of early childhood education with preschools, day care centers, and nursery programs starting across the country.  In 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) was established dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children and focusing on the quality of education and developmental services offered to children from birth to the age of eight.

Head Start, founded in 1965 as a program through the United States Department of Health and Human Services, was originally founded to ready low-income children over the summer months for upcoming kindergarten. Over the years, Head Start has become a respected preschool aged program found in many communities working with children of all backgrounds and abilities.

Early Education Teaching Theories

The concept of educating young children within the family has been happening for many, many years, but the evolution of early childhood education within an outside setting has many different theories and facets. The studies conducted by Jean Piaget along with the work he did with children, paved the way for educators to create different styles of teaching to use within programs. Many of these theories of teaching are used in preschools around the country. They include:

• The Montessori Method: Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree with areas of study in psychiatry, education and anthropology. Her belief was that every child was born with potential and that children should be allowed to be free to explore and play within their environment. In the early 1900’s, Montessori visited the United States to share her unique style of teaching. The main focus is to always be attentive to the child and follow the child in the direction they chose to go when learning. The Montessori Method is practiced within many preschools around the country.
• Reggio Emilia Approach: Begun in Italy after World War II in the city of Reggio Emilia, this preschool teaching style is based on children’s symbolic language and the context of project-oriented curriculum. With the Reggio Emilia approach, community is a large part of the educational process and with opportunities for educational experiences for teachers to maintain their abilities and to enhance and dedicate themselves as educators to the development of the young child. The environment of the educational setting is also considered to be an important aspect of the child’s development and often considered as the “third teacher.” Along with Piaget’s constructivist thought, the Reggio Emilia Approach, the community as well as teachers believe the child to be interested in learning and experimenting through inner motivation, promoting educated and productive future adults.
• Play-Based Learning: The concept of play-based learning is exactly what it sounds like, playing to learn. Many educators have helped pave the way to understanding the wonders of allowing children to learn through their play. Bev Bos, both an educator and writer, has been sharing her ideas and concepts through books and lectures for over 40 years. Her suggestions of teaching with a hand’s off style encourages teachers to let children lead themselves through problem solving and discovery with minimal intervention, and to learn through play.
• Direct Instruction: Siegried Engelmann and Wesley Becker coined this teaching concept in the 1960’s.  The goal is for children to be directed through their development with teachers leading activities directed toward specific learning. Often drilling methods are used as well as rote learning. Other characteristics of direct instruction are fast-paced learning activities, active involvement between teachers and children, and positive reinforcement offered often and mistakes corrected immediately.

Early childhood education is an important step in educating children and offering stimulating opportunities for exploring and learning.

By Sarah Lipoff. Sarah is an art educator and parent. Visit Sarah’s website here.

The classroom is taught the way it is today because of the different ‘ages’ in history. Ages like the Industrial Revolution and Information Age have had profound and lasting impacts on the history of education.

Teaching methods are beginning to change, ever slowly, however.

“Over the last two hundred years, the common school and its one-size-fits-all curriculum have evolved into a larger union school with wide course offerings,” according to School: The Story of American Public Education, a PBS series.

But classrooms still have a long way to go.

Education in the Industrial Age

In the Industrial Age, education was handled much differently than today. There were one room school houses and farming was the main livelihood in society.

This age changed what was required from the workforce. Society needed lots of people to work in factories and so the factory model of learning was established. The factory concept applies directly to education today. Companies needed to provide somewhat educated workers and the principles of mass production were implemented. The factory model was a system of education. These companies took a person, trained them and when the person came out at the end of the training, they were certified to go work in the factory setting.

Also popular during the Industrial Age was the mass production model, which focuses on scoring well on exams and essentially memorizing data to repeat it at a later time.

Skinner’s Behaviorism

Besides the mass production model, the popular psychology term behaviorism also came into play in the educational sector. 20^th century teacher and researcher B.F. Skinner believed in behaviorism, a concept that states that anyone can learn anything and the mind of the learner is blank.

Skinner believed a person’s prior experience was irrelevant and that a capable instructor can break down any concept, repeat it and any person can learn it, regardless of the knowledge they had before. John B. Watson was the founder of behaviorism.

Additionally, Skinner worked with operant conditioning, which correlates to enforcing behavior in school children today. If a child is asked to stay after school for acting out in class, this would be an example of operant conditioning. The student would see that he or she will get punished for their actions and they may be unlikely to commit whatever act they did that got them in trouble, again.

Skinner, however, also had the idea that positive reinforcement was better than punishment. By not necessarily rewarding the student and instead praising him or her for positive behavior, Skinner would have found this more beneficial because of the general definition.

“A behavior will increase if it is followed by positive reinforcement. It will decrease if it is followed by punishment. Operant conditioning is thus ‘learning by consequences,” according to Changing Minds.

The principles of operant conditioning are still used to explain teaching and learning techniques used in the classroom today.

“Positive communication is a tool to reinforce good behavior and eliminate bad behavior; it builds self-esteem and inspires confidence in children,” according to Family Education.

New changes

The education of the Industrial Revolution Era did not last, simply because things change, especially with a new Age of time.

Age of Information

The Age of Information took the country by storm in the 1970s. Noam Chomsky believed behaviorism did not make sense and he aimed to prove the point that people are not born with a blank slate or an innate ability to learn. He believed a person would learn a language whether they liked it or not. With Chomsky’s new behavior code, people began to have a whole new way of looking at how students learn.

Drawing from experience: From Laura Ingalls to Noam Chomsky

The days of the Little House on the Prairie one-room schoolhouse may be over, but today’s challenges are new. An educator must consider the mind of the learner. It is not always one size fits all learning. Students have different learning styles and instead of focusing on the current ‘age,’ educators may need to tailor diverse learning styles to individual students. This philosophy allows teachers to draw from their experience, instead of using a comprehensive approach that may not suit every student.

Chomsky believed that there were some things no amount of learning could teach. In an interview from 1983, he said there was a relationship between heredity and the environment for the progression of human language.

“The language organ interacts with early experience and matures into the grammar of the language that the child speaks. If a human being with this fixed endowment grows up in Philadelphia, as I did, his brain will encode knowledge of the Philadelphia dialect of English. If that brain had grown up in Tokyo, it would have encoded the Tokyo dialect of Japanese. The brain’s different linguistic experience — English versus Japanese — would modify the language organ’s structure,” Chomsky said in the interview.

Into the Future

Going ahead into the next few decades, many technological advances will be made. These advances, such as the release of the iPad, may change the factory model into a workshop one, some suggest.

Others aren’t nearly as convinced.

“The model is premised on the belief of “progressive” educators that the best way to encourage deep and enduring understanding is through “discovery learning” in a small-group setting, where students puzzle out problems and acquire knowledge on their own,” according to a New York Teacher.

Therefore, what will happen with the history of education in the future is still yet to be determined. But one thing is for sure: with a multitude of theories and various ways of teaching created by educators, there certainly seem to be many ways for students to learn and adapt in the classroom.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

Our current education system dates back to the Industrial Revolution. At the time, our country needed to prepare its agricultural workers for factory jobs. So we built a school system that catered to the mass production mentality. This education system was efficient and measurable, and it churned out students who were ready to face the demands of our nation’s new economy.

In today’s age of instant information, the Industrial Revolution is a distant memory. So why is it that we still educate our students as if preparing them for a life of machine and assembly line work? Teaching by rote and following rigid academic agendas doesn’t cut it anymore. To say our scholastic curriculum is outmoded is putting it nicely.

Today’s children need to learn the skills that will help them in today’s job market and today’s society. They need to learn how to make decisions on their own, work well with others, and sift through vast amounts of information. And it’s time our schools rise to the occasion and fill this need.

Want More Information?

To further explore the history of our current educational system, take a look at the following websites:

In Emile or on Education, a classic book on education reform, Jean Jacques Rousseau argues for a return to a more natural education.

John Dewey is perhaps the most influential American educator of the 20th century. Be sure to explore these additional web pages on Dewey.

For a comprehensive overview of the history of education, visit this post.