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REGION: North America
TOPIC: Education
Online NewsHour
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Posted: August 23, 2007

House Leaders Debate Education Bill

Students The No Child Left Behind education law is up for reauthorization this year. The leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee answered your questions about it.
QUESTIONS
How can large multiple-choice tests be good indicators of a student's knowledge?
Why does NCLB allow for federal mandates but allows states to set the standards?
Can a provision be made so that non-English speaking students are not compared to native English speakers?
Could there be a uniform standard so that teachers can move to schools where they are needed?
What is the correlation between low-income areas and sustained educational performance?
Will NCLB include a modification so that students are tested at the grade level in which they are instructed?
How can the law be changed to encourage creativity in children?

When No Child Left Behind was passed in 2002, it was hailed as an example of congressional bipartisanship. Since then, however, the law has provoked complaints from school administrators and teachers that it is under-funded and does not take into account testing scores of students who have disabilities or speak English as a second language.

The law requires public schools to meet certain state-set benchmarks toward improving all students' reading and math proficiency, and if the schools fail to do so, they could face firings and eventually be shut down.

Two leaders on one of the reauthorizing committees, House Education Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and ranking member Howard McKeon, R-Calif., answered your questions about what changes to the law they may seek.

Another forum on NCLB featured three 2007 Teachers of the Year, who described how the law affects their classrooms. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/education/july-dec07/teachers_08-16.html


ADDITIONAL FEATURES
  Main: No Child Left Behind
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  Standardized Testing
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  Impact on Special Needs Students
  Education Policy before NCLB
  Tales from the Frontlines
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House Leaders Debate Education Bill



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