The "No Child Left Behind Act"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the "No Child Left Behind Act, 2001, which is the latest attempt by the federal government to introduce tougher measures to arrest the trend of falling standards in education especially among the less privileged. It discusses the development of public education in the U.S.A., the political nature of education and its historical and socio-cultural aspects. The aims of the "No Child Left Behind Act" in these areas as well as its pros and cons are also examined.

From the Paper:

"From the earliest days of America's independence, its founding fathers had realized the importance of education for the prosperity and survival of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, called education a "crusade against ignorance" and suggested a system of free schools for all persons that would be publicly supported through taxes. (Powell) Jefferson's vision formed the basis of the US public schools system developed in the 19th century leading to free and compulsory elementary level school education for all American school children. American educators such as Horace Mann were instrumental in the 1830s and 1840s to introduce reforms focused on elementary education. The reforms were based on the notion that all young children should be schooled, and that the content of education should be the same for everyone. Mann believed that: "The scientific or literary well-being of a community is to be estimated not so much by possessing a few men of great knowledge, as its having many men of competent knowledge." (Quoted by Powell)"

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