The Impact of NCLB free essay sample

Introduction As the United States strive to become a global leader in education, developing school teachers and leaders must be the first step to achieve this goal. All the work that educational leaders has put in on every level of our educational system has not rendered the results desired. Research suggest that everyday interaction between a teacher and student has a prime determinant on student achievement. Great teachers can make all the difference in the world. Teachers can inspire a student to achieves at an elevated level or a student who falls through the away and never reaching his or her full potential. Great principals also play a part in helping teachers become successful as part of a strong, well-supported instructional team. Mulford (2003) suggested that top-performing teachers can make a remarkable difference in the achievement of students. Students who are assigned to top-performing teachers every year experience a higher rate of achievement than those that do not. We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of NCLB or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the last ten years the federal government has developed ways to make sure that there are effective teacher in every classroom, and an efficient school leader on each campus. Each instructor and administrator will have access to on-going training support that they may need to be successful (Mulford, 2003). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act functions as a data driven decision-making educational tool. This governmental act also provides support to teachers and administrators so that they can achieve these goals. One of the main aspects of the legislation was to have effective teachers in every classroom. The implementation process to achieve this transformation goal must be well planned out due to the number of uncertified teachers in the classroom prior to the act being implemented ( Left Behind, 2008). Description of Aspects The NCLB Act wanted to assess the teaching profession to focus on recognizing, encouraging, and rewarding excellence in teaching. The NCLB legislation asked states and local districts to develop and apply systems for teachers and principals to evaluate, support, and identify highly effective teachers and principals on the basis of student growth and other areas. This new system will support and encourage professional development for teachers and principals, which will improve student learning. The U. S. Department of Education suggested that this new system will encourage new effective teachers and principals to enter the field of teaching (U. S. Department of Education, n. d. ). The implementation of highly qualified teachers in the new NCLB legislation can be considered sensitive in nature. All teachers must meet requirements to be in a classroom setting . The two requirements to be considered highly qualified are to have at least a four year college degree and pass the states teacher certification test. Teachers who need to meet requirements in the NCLB legislation are teachers who teach direct instruction. All teachers must teach in the grade they are certified in. All teachers who provide direct instruction to a classroom must be certified in that content area. General education teachers who do not teach content specific areas are not required to meet highly qualified teacher status. The effects of highly qualified teachers at my school will benefit my educational community by increasing test scores and student growth, increased attendance of students and faculty. By having highly qualified teachers students would be receiving the best instruction from teachers who the state would consider content proficient in the area. Teachers who are highly qualified do not like to miss work because they understand how important instruction is to students. When students see this type of consistency it encourages them to attend school as well. (U. S. Department of Education, n. d. ). Implementation In education teachers are the frontline workers and the most important level. Making sure that every teacher has the ability, skill, motivation , and desire to do the job is considered essential. When implementing a plan or transforming a culture an educational leader must have full executive support, an effective communication plan, full employee involvement, thorough organizational planning and completive analysis, and a widespread perceived need for the strategic planning. Effective leadership also comes with great collaboration in an organization internal and external. Leadership must constantly involve staff in collaboration. Early in a new programs life a centralized focus must provide the leader a number of benefits: management of external stakeholders, management of informational needs, funding of the program, and management support. Providing teachers and administrative teams to collaborate on on-going and future issues will help empower and motivate to take ownership in the organization. In an educational environment school leaders must collaborate with staff through PLCs which are team meetings, faculty and staff meetings, school improvement committees, teacher appraisals periods (PDAS), and even casual conversation. Lewis and Pattersson (2009) suggest that good governance promotes excellent service in education which include an organization with appropriate standards, good incentives, information, and accountability which foster high performance from public providers (Lewis Pattersson, 2009). Sound governance of any organization starts with leadership and a good plan. Standards are transparent and publicly known criteria. Incentives are monetary or non-financial factors that will encourage any type of actions. Information is apparent definitions of output data and outcomes combined with accurate data on performance. The information is collected on a regular basis or intervals which enables sanctions to be imposed when specified standards are not met. Holding teachers and staff accountable in their positions means everyone is answerable for outcomes and consequences and sanctions can be imposed (Lewis Pattersson, 2009). External Stakeholders The United States education system finds itself in a situation where it cannot find a solution on how to educate its students. As the United States government attempted to find ways to regulate states, more and more principals found themselves as managers for the federal government. NCLB policy regulate schools all the way down to the moment students take the test. The sanctions that are imposed on schools and districts because they fail are severe. Some school districts are reconstituted because their inability to meet acceptable academic levels based on the legislation. There are many external stakeholders that play a major role when implementing a culture like the state educational agency. In Texas this agency is called The Texas Educational Agency (TEA). This organization set the rules and mandates for all the districts around the states. Their job is to make sure the districts are in compliance with the federal and state government. Other external members that will be involved will be your local school superintendents, area superintendent, chief executive officer, local school board, community stakeholders, and parents (Mickelson Southworth, 2005). Research Research and data analysis play a large part in implementing why teachers are so influential in student achievement. There has been major research completed that support this idea. Student achievement is connected to teacher competence. Studies have also shown that solid teacher-student engagement has more value than curriculum and materials. Studies like these support effective teachers in every classroom theory. By providing data and information to teachers who do not meet the highly qualified teacher status, they will be encouraged and understand the importance of the status based on the research presented. Stakeholders would also develop an understanding of the importance of having effective teachers in every classroom (Teacher Effectiveness, n. d. ). Conclusion Teachers truly play a major role in our society. Unfortunately teachers will never get paid their worth or have the status they deserve. Effective teachers should not just mean possessing credentials. We all know teaching entail so much more than a standard state certification. The NCLB act gives government the chance to set benchmarks to measure and to hold teachers and school districts accountable with consequences for those who do not. Strategically planning by using good sound data to help implement a change is so important. By doing this it will help secure a solid future for our students.