Performance Assesments Essay -- essays papers

Performance Assesments Due to the implementation of this new law, states are required to annually test all students in public schools. Anthony Rebora (2004) states that â€Å"by the 2005-2006 school years, states must begin testing students in grades 3-8 in the areas of reading, math, and writing† (p. 1). In the 2007-2008 school years, science will be added in to the testing material. The tests must meet the requirements of the states academic standards. They are supposed to bring all students up to the proficient level on their assessments by the 2013-2014 school years. Rebora (2004) also observed that the academic content and achievement standards define what all children should know in order to be considered proficient in each state (p. 2). These state assessments are a mechanism for checking whether schools have been successful in teaching students the knowledge and skills characterized by the content standards. In an article, titled â€Å"test and punish† in NEA Today, â€Å"the number of schools that missed Adequate Yearly Progress for two or more years reached 6, 794 or 12 percent of the schools in those states† (Lochert, 2004, p. 10). Although former Education Secretary, Rod Paige believes that results show that No Child Left Behind is working and test scores are rising, other officials say that the credit associated with the rising scores go to other factors. These factors include, teaching students test taking skills, the new regulations that permit some to exempt some students’ scores, and there are more students taking the required tests. In previous years, some schools were labeled inadequate because not enough students took the assessments. (Toppo, 2004) It has become largely popular for teachers to focus more on... ...ents being able to interact with their environment. Lochert, K. (2004, November). Test and Punish. NEA Today, 10. This article talks about Adequate Yearly Progress. The standards that each school must meet to comply with the No Child Left Behind Law. It gives statistics that attempt to show that many schools will not reach the goal. Schemo, D. J. (2004, March 25). 14 States Ask U.S. to Revise Some Education Law Rules. The New York Times. There are many states that disagree with the law and feel that its requirements are far too strict. This article explains why the states think the law is unfair. They feel that any progress in the academic rates or proficiencies of students should be more important than ensuring that one hundred percent of students are at a sufficient level by a certain date. They signed a letter asking for it to be redesigned.