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LiteratureReviewAssignment
Kristopher Luckett
EDUC518
12/13/2020
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All students deserve an equal opportunity at a chance towards a fair education. If we are
evaluatingallstudentsbasedoffofthesamestandards,thenthereisnotruewaytodeterminethe progress
or level of achievement for each individual student. By creating a curriculum based around
standardized testing we are limiting the abilities and opportunities we have to helping each and
every student with their academic goals. We as teachers have been too focused on making
surethe students havehigh testscores and have omitted theidea that children are sent to schools to
learn in order to comprehend. Instead, we are expecting and forcing our students to remember
and regurgitate. The purpose of education is to create a platform for young minds to think
critically and analyze particular issues. By implementing standardized testing as a requirement
for academic advancement, we are potentially hindering students that in all reality, have the
ability to achieve academic milestones. I love President George W. Bush to almost the
fullestextent,butlikeallPresidentsoftheUnitedStates,hehadafewflaws.The"NoChildLeft Behind"
initiative is an issue that I have always been somewhat ignorant about. I would very much like to
research this topic and get a better grasp on what was implemented and what President Bush was
actually trying to do. What it seems like he was attempting to accomplish was academic equality
for all students, but by doing so he unfortunately created a hindrance on educational and
academic potentials. There are a few criteria that I would like to examine in order to get a good
handle on the topic. I believe that statistics and facts are the most importing pieces in this
research study. Everyone has their own opinions, and that is what makes them less impactful and
easy to argue against. Statistics and facts however are solid, and that is what makes them valid
and dependable. There are basic guidelines that this policy has to follow and there are certain
stipulations that can either assist or prohibit this from becoming an asset to America.
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As we move forward into discussing the themes of the topic at hand, there are a few key
terms that we must first familiarize ourselves with. The first of which is the research method
known as qualitative research. Qualitative research is a generic term for an array of educational
research approaches such as ethnography, naturalistic inquiry, narrative research, case studies,
interpretiveresearch,fieldwork,fieldstudies,participantobservation,andothers(Ary,2019).To break
down the word qualitative, my mind immediately goes to the quality of the research opposed to
how much is obtained. The next term is the other form of research that was used during this
study, quantitative research, which strives for testable and confirmable theories that explain
phenomena by showing how they are derived from theoretical assumptions. It seeks scientific
explanation that includes the discovery of laws governing not only the behavior of the physical
world but also human behavior (Ary, 2019). These are the two primary forms of research that
was used during the course of this study. One focuses on the content and quality of information
that is collected, while the other is more concentrated around the idea that more is
betterandcollectsasmuchdataandinformationaspossibleinordertoensureaffirmation.There are
multiple arguments that can be attributed to both qualitative and quantitative research. Both
presentsolidargumentsthatshowvalidresults,yetitalwaysdependsonthetypeofresearchthat is being
conducted to determine which path is reasonable and will provide the most accurate results. In
terms of being persuasive and presenting the best results, qualitative is the best
routetogo.Itpresentsevidencethatisabletomotivateaconclusionwithenoughmomentumtopropel
towards a result with the information provided. I am one who loves to prove my point using
logical information.Ifthereare noconcreteresultsthatcan beused,thentheonlywayto present a
point's validity is by using logic. By using qualitative research we are able to determine an
outcome based off of certain criteria that can influence the proposed question at hand. In my
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case, studying the effects of the "No Child Left Behind"Act proposed by President George W.
Bush, by using critical research which "seeks to empower change through examining and
critiquing assumptions" (Ary, 2019). Now, if there is concrete evidence or the use of data and
hard numbers, then that trumps all. There is no sort of argument or persuasive antidote that can
beattheuseofnumbersandquantitativeresearch.Ipersonallybelievethatthereisnootherway to prove
something is absolutely factual without the use of citations and numbers. Numbers do not lie and
I fully believe this. Of course, if there is no concrete evidence that can be presented, we must
abide by logic and trust. If something cannot be fully proven, there is a small factor of trust and
faith that must come into play.
Thedataandinformationthatwascollectedinthisstudysupportthreemaincentralizedideas or
themes. The first theme is centered around the idea about state funding and policies around
schools that have been directly impacted by the “No Child Left Behind”Act. The second theme
that will be is discussed is that of how test scores throughout school systems have been effected
as well as how the outlook on educational accountability has been altered.We will examine this
by looking at the accounts of studies on ELLstudents as well as the difference in state
examinations and in-class exams amongst other accounts. Third, and lastly, we will shift our
attention toward how the “No Child Left Behind”Act impacted schools directly by looking at
principal’s accounts as well as how it has effected the mental health of not only the students in
school, but also the teachers and other faculty members as well.
In the first theme that focuses around how state funding and certain policies have been
affected, we look towards articles that take a look around how things could change due to the
“NoChildLeftBehind”Actandhoweducationalpolicieschangedandturnedintoneoliberalin terms of
how the policies themselves were constructed. David Hursh presents an article
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informing the public about what the standards are and how politicians are suggesting that
standardized testing will close the academic achievement gap. He later argues with qualitative
reasoning that the schools are not reaching their goals and how the neoliberalist standards and
suggests that the ideologies should be rethought and perhaps lean more towards a social
democraticviewpoint.The thoughtabout how funding would beaffected cameup as well. Since
funding and accreditation are determined by student attendance and test scores, how would the
“No Child Left Behind”Act effect the way that each individual state funds their school systems.
This qualitative study written by Michael S. Hayes takes a different approach towards the “No
ChildLeftBehind”ActfocusingmoreonthefinancialsideoftheActopposedtotheeducational side that
most people tend to look at. Hayes offers the idea that state governments have been forced to
allocate select funds towards public school systems which in turn have taken funding away from
other state funded programs. Hayes also suggests that the act initially shocked the financial
systems in most states creating somewhat of a ripple effect through the years.Another
thingtoconsideramongthisthemeishowproficientthisacttrulyisandhowitcouldpotentially limit the
effects of policies that can be addressed by the state.Andrew Dean Ho presents an extremely
intricate study of the Percentage of Proficient Students (PPS) and how its presents a very limited
portrayal of large-scaletest scoretrends, gaps, and gap trends.Theauthor then goes into the
inconsistencies that are associated with standardized testing and how those inconsistencies
translate to skewed statistics. These skewed statistics then show that the results from the
standardized testing are not reliable. This quantitative study relies heavily on statistics that show
policies throughout the “No Child Left Behind”Act.
Inregardstothesecondthemeofhowtestscoresthroughoutschoolsystemshavebeeneffected
aswellashowtheoutlookoneducationalaccountabilityhasbeenaltered,weshiftour attention
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towards the notion about how students who do not speak fluent English will be effected. The
article written by JamalAbedi argues the fundamental principles on which the “No Child Left
Behind”Act clearly stands upon. He states that the standards do not accommodate students that
are not of English decent and therefore poses the potential of education bias while threateningthe
accountability of schools.Abedi pushes that ELLstudents are put at a disadvantage with
educational standards that are set by the state. This is certainly something that can create a
hindrance towards representing accurate test scores.Another item to consider when examining
this theme is understanding the idea of natural intelligence against an individual who has self-
control and is diligent with his/her studies. The article 5.) What No Child Left Behind leaves
behind: The roles of IQ and self-control in predicting standardized achievement test scores and
report card grades byAngela Duckworth, Patrick Quinn, and Eli Tsukayama presents quite a
compelling argument. This qualitative article promotes the idea that there is a vast difference
between the idea of standardized test scores and report cards. One has to do with the
exemplification of intelligence while the other promotes the idea of controlled education. They
use a study of middle school students to prove this idea and suggest along the way that the “No
Child Left Behind”Act was a good idea in theory, yet left many gaps within the educational
system that need to be fixed.Angela Duckworth, Patrick Quinn, and Eli Tsukayama go to great
lengthstounderstandtheincreasinguseandeffortstowardsusingstandardizedtestinginorderto know
how student learning is motivated. “We propose that standardized achievement test scores assess
competencies determined more by intelligence than by self-control, whereas report card grades
assess competencies determined more by self-control than by intelligence” (Tsukayama, 2012).
The researchers use two longitudinal, subjects that are taught at the middle school level and
examine the students’motivation and examination results. The researchers want to know
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what motivates and influences the students to receive passing grades for both their standardized
tests and their in-class grades. By using this case study, the researchers hope to understand or at
least comprehend the basis of what the standardized test do for not only the students, but for the
teachers and schools as well. In order to obtain the results of the methods in which the students
use for their studying, the researchers will use a documentation analysis method along with
observation of the students. The full question at hand is which method is more effective on test
scores and is overall more beneficial to the student, basic intelligence or self-control? The
researchers suggest that by being intelligent, the student is already at an advantage than that of a
student who is not intelligent and yet has self-control over his/her studies in regards to
standardized achievement test scores.Yet, when it comes to a class grade and report cards, the
student who has good overall self-control is at the advantage opposed to the student who has
increased intelligence. It seems that if a student has the ability to obtain both of these traits, then
it would make for afine academic.The results show thattheresearcher’s hypothesis was right in
line with the evidence presented. Over time, the student with the higher levels of intelligence
showed higher scores on the standardized achievement test scores than that of the student with
self-control. In addition, the results also showed that the student with good self-control was able
to obtain better in-class report card grades than the student with the higher level of intelligence.
Anotherstudyconductedalsoshowedthatteacherratingsoftheproposedcontentandpurposeof the
standardized achievement tests as well as the in-class report card grades were relatively
unswerving with the model that was proposed. In regards to my analysis of the article, I believe
that the study was beneficial to the academic realm.The simplicity of the study shows that there
are different types of learners and they should be evaluated as such. Standardized achievement
testing gives an opportunity for the student with higher levels of intelligence a chance to prove
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that intelligence on a platform suited for them. In the same manner, students who show good
self-control may not do as well on a standardized test, yet are able to achieve good in-class
gradesduetotheirworkethicanddedication.Thereisthepotentialforfurtherstudiesthatcould
focusontheideaofthewayinstructionisgivenbyteacherstobetterhelptheintelligentstudents as well as
creating standardized achievement tests that are less complicating and simpler to
understandforthestudents thatexemplifyself-control.ThroughoutthearticleIsawnothreatsto validity
or bias in regards to in information collected or the results.Again, I stress the fact that while only
two parties where studied in this research project, it certainly does not represent the
entirestudentbody.Therearestudentswhoshoweachtrait,both,orevenneither.Thelastarticle that can
be associated with this theme is focused on how student accountability has been shifted or
altered by the “No Child Left Behind”Act.Thomas Dee and Brian Jacobs go into great detail
about how the “No Child Left Behind”Act (NCLB) shifted the focus in schools throughout the
country.At first schools were focused on children passing classes so they could advance to the
next grade and eventually graduate high school. Once the NCLBAct was passed by President
George W. Bush in 2001, the focus then shifted to having children learn required and approved
material and be tested on it, receiving a score. That score must then be above a certain point in
order to advance to the next grade. Students still had to pass the class as well. This quantitative
study questions the intent of theAct and shows results that actually prove an increase in grades
amongst students after taking the state standardized exams. Both Dee and Jacobs admit that the
NCLBActwasextremelyinfluentialand servedagreat purposeforbothschoolsandstudents. It created
a sense of accountability for the schools and the students alike. By using surveys that
analyzedschoolsacrossthecountrytodetermineinformationsuchasstudentpopulation,student
diversity, and student engagement the authors were able to indicate if these were factors that
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could contribute to the performance of the students and their state standardized test scores.This
research study was not done in a traditional sense, but rather an unconventional way. They did
not reveal their direct participants, but instead kept the participants anonymous and simply
revealedthedata.Aratherlargesectionofthearticlefocusesonthedemographicsofthestudents and the
relationship between diversity and academic performance. The authors assumed that school
academic polices before the NCLBAct would be comparable to after, and were able to rely on
this using accountability systems (Dobbs, 2005) including other accountability sources that
survey multiple states throughout the country (Hanushek & Raymond 2005). This 76-page
article reviewing the NCLBAct provides multiple accounts and surveys through the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and a comparative interrupted time series (CITS)
approach. “Specifically, we find that NCLB generated large and broad gains in the math
achievement of 4th and (to a somewhat lesser extent) 8th graders. However, our results suggest
that NCLB had no impact on reading achievement for 4th or 8th graders” (Dee, 2009). The
authors also suggest that the results that have been collected will make it extremely difficult for
policy makers to determine whether or not the NCLBAct is something that needs to be done
away with or if it is something that can be adjusted to meet the needs of the individual state
school systems. The authors go on to suggest that the NCLBAct has fallen short of its
expectations. This to me is not all that surprising. Most academic researchers are quite
opinionated when it comes to President GeorgeW. Bush’s NCLBAct and for Dee and Jacobs to
graciously say that it has simply fallen short of expectations is quite remarkable. The NCLBAct
was obviously a good idea in theory, yet with red tape and certain state legislature and the
inability for everything to operate ideally, it was in fact something that just fell short of
expectations.Asstatedbefore,theauthorsdidnotrevealtheirdirectparticipants,butinsteadkept
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the participants anonymous and simply revealed the data.This was something that I found to be
agitating. They were able to reveal the participants age and grade level, but not the specific
academic criteria that I believe would have been accelerating to the study and research. While
thedatathewasprovidedwascertainlyenough,thereweremoreopportunitiestogatherspecific
information that could have become beneficial to the study. Since this article was a quantitative
study that focused on the academic performance of schools and the overall performance of the
NCLBAct, there is little to no disagreement on the findings from the authors in the study.
Something else that I noticed was that while there was a plethora of information that was
gathered in regard to the study, there was little to no opinionated input throughout the article. I
appreciate that they are discussing the information and research that they gathered because there
isnothingmoresolidifiedthanthatofevidence-basedresearch,butatthesametimeIwouldalso
appreciate if the authors would supply us with their thoughts on the findings in more of an
opinionated fashion. Many of the authors findings would allow us to implicate that while the
NCLBAct was something that was taken into consideration by many presidents and those in
political power, President Bush was able to take initiative and initiate the NCLBAct which laid
the foundation for how the public school systems throughoutAmerica operate to this day. This
allows us to imply that while President Bush may have had his flaws, he was at least passionate
enough aboutAmerica’s educational systems to draw up a plan to potentially make it into
something better than it has ever been.
The third theme to consider focuses on how the “No Child Left Behind”Act has directly
impacted schools. The first article that we look at takes select principal’s accounts into
consideration and focuses on how this act has effected them and their work. In this article the
authorshavegonetolookattherolesandresponsibilitiesthathavebeenimposeduponschool
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principles. The authors go into detail about how the “No Child Left Behind”Act changed how
principles interact with their teachers and how the principle’s goals have changed since the act
passed in 2001. Six schools are examined in this article giving the authors enough evidence to
show how much impact the “No Child Left Behind”Act has made on the participating school
systems and the principles throughout. Other details such as legal ramifications are examined as
well. The next piece of literature that we examine directly focuses on mental health connections
inrelationtothe“NoChildLeftBehind”Act.Theauthors,byBrianDaly,RobertBurke,Isadora Hare,
and Carrie Mills define what the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB)Act does and how it has been
beneficial in the public school system. They have also gone to great lengths to explain the
complexities involved with the mental health programs that the NCLBAct includes. However,
there are many policies and stipulations that are included with the involvement of mental health
programs within the NCLBAct that hinder the programs to come to fruition. The article’s
purpose is to raise awareness about these programs so that they may be included in the public
school system’s programs. In similarity to how the mental health of both students and teachers,
we now shift out attention to how the reformation of the act has affected teachers in regards to
how they create material and how they shape their curriculum. Finally, we look at how this act
has impacted the ideals of race, inequality, and educational accountability. The presented article
written by Linda Darling-Hammond is a qualitative piece that explains the “No Child Left
Behind”Act that was presented by President George W. Bush and claims that it was the major
education initiative of the BushAdministration. She later goes on to indicate that this attempt at
educationalreformwasabotchedeffortandhasgivenwaytoinequalityamongracesandhasput blame
and accountability on schools and administration rather than the states that are
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administeringthestandardizedtests.Sheaddressesthelawsandpoliciesthatadministertothe act and
states that it has the adverse effect on what it was initially trying to accomplish.
While composing all of the articles I have determined that while the act presented by
President GeorgeW. Bush is not perfect, it is certainly something that has created accountability
for school systems across the country.We cannot rely on the judgment of all teachers, and so
therefore we must have standards that all schools must abide by.As I sift through the different
articles and journals that I have come across, I notice that the majority of them have a common
theme. Most of the articles that I have compiled are more so arguing or criticizing the "No Child
Left BehindAct" by President George W. Bush rather than complimenting or admiring the
proposition.Ofcourse,themajorityofarticlesarewrittenbyotheracademicsandprofessors,but there
are few who agree with President GeorgeW. Bush about the act itself. Now, I for one will agree
that it may have not been the best thing in the world, but like many things it was poorly
executed. Many would compare the execution of the No Child Left BehindAct to the execution
of theAffordable CareAct (Obamacare) produced by President Barack Obama. Both ideas are
beneficial in theory, but the execution of the act is what creates dispute and disagreement. The
majority of articles that I have compiled consist from professors and researchers from accredited
universities and institutions such as JamalAbedi from UCLA, Thomas S. Dee from Stanford
University, and Brian Jacob from the University of Michigan. The consistent viewpoint from
most of the scholars is that President Bush had no malice intent or motives, but wanted the best
opportunity for young minds. However, they also argue that through this method he created
restrictions and consequences towards school systems. For the majority of the articles, they rely
heavily on research rather than opinion.Although, there are a few of the authors who do not
mind giving their two cents. The articles that I found to be the most interesting and informative
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are from the professors mentioned before. JamalAbedi from UCLAwrote an incredible critical
article titled "The No Child Left BehindAct and English Language Learners:Assessment and
AccountabilityIssues".ThisisoneofthearticlesthatIpersonallydisagreedwith,butrespecthis opinion
due to his research and dedication.
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References
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