Summary of Michael Cohen's Essay

Michael Cohen sees No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in a more favorable light. He opens by saying that it is a continuation of 45 years of federal government intervention for poor students. However, because it was the first law of its kind it was bound to have some mistakes or room for improvement. Cohen then goes on to describe what needs to change in the next draft of NCLB.

The law has done a great job of unveiling the injustices in the U.S. school system. There was the idea that our schools were improving, which is true, but achievement of certain groups was not improving and with some subgroups it was actually getting worse NCLB now forces schools to report overall achievement for subgroups, such as low-income, minorities, English-language learners, and special education students. NCLB demanded accountability from schools in closing the achievement gap for these subgroups. Many schools have succeeded and it shows that standards and standardized testing are a necessary part of a successful school system, but the lowest performing schools are still not up to par, which shows that more is needed.

Now that the accountability system is in place for schools, administrators, and teachers, a support system must also be put in place. Teachers and administrators will not improve just because they have positive or negative consequences (it is interesting to note that schools have negative consequences, whereas teachers have no consequences other than their tests scores being published and possibly pride being affected). They also need the support to improve. This support comes in the form of training and tools.

Additionally, the law set high standards and expectations for the stakeholders in the education system, but perhaps made the goals unattainable. We now have schools and districts that are grappling with consequences because their goals were not attainable. Additionally, states and districts have learned that if they cannot meet the goals, they might as well lower the bar or standards so that they can meet the goals. It is much easier to lower a couple of bars than raising up millions of students. The good news though is that many states have been forming coalititions to create standards that are rigorous and provide the skills necessary for students entering college and the workforce. This standard-adoption must continue , but it will not cure everything about the law. More support and tools must be provided to teachers and administrators, and the goals of the next law need to be more realistic.