Assessment of efficiency of the US Act of 2001 on reforming elementary and secondary education No. 107-110 in 2002-2013

The aim of the article is to analyze the influence of the US Act of 2001 No. 107-110 reforming elementary and secondary education on the progress of American students from 2002 to 2013. Passing of the Act was preceded by a nation-wide testing of students in certain subject areas. The assessment results showed considerable regional variations in the achievement level. For modernization of education it was necessary to develop academic programs for racial/ethnic minority students due to the rather low performance they demonstrated during the assessment and to carry out transition to new academic standards. Reforming school education was one of George Bush's key initiatives in 2001. The Act on reforming elementary and secondary education, cited also as "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), was enacted in 2002. The Act proclaimed the following basic principles of the American education system: accountability of states and schools, parental choice of a school for children depending on results of its work, adoption and meeting requirements of academic standards by states, and funding of the education reform from the federal budget. A range of advantages and shortcomings of the NCLB reform is being discussed. The first drawback is believed to be the real funding of the program, which turned out to be much lower than it was stated in the Act. The thesis about underfunding is not well grounded, as under the Act participation in the reform was not obligatory for states. Besides, since 2011 the US Department of Education has granted an opportunity to states to spend federal funds more flexibly for the purpose of maintaining the dynamics of progress and increasing efficiency of the education reform. Secondly, the use of Adequate Yearly Progress (a measurement of students' proficiency) is criticized because some states and schools have difficulties in achieving it owing to their demographic, geographical and structural features. At last, a formal approach of meeting academic standard requirements, which is done only for the reason to get funding, is argued. In contrast, the true value of the reform lies in its attempt to solve education problems of the following categories of students: students from low-income families, with low academic achievement scores, with disabilities, those representing ethnic minority and some others. Positive development of education thanks to NCLB is further proved by the fact that all states adopted the challenging standards and assessment procedures, held regular academic assessments and published results of schools' work. Schools that were recommended improvement received technical support, and teachers took professional training courses. On the basis of the analysis of statistics and the study of sources, a conclusion about significant advancement of American students' academic progress can be drawn.

Keywords

Authors

References