Historical Topic Analysis Stankevicius
.doc
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Liberty University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
703
Subject
Health Science
Date
Jul 3, 2024
Type
doc
Pages
7
Uploaded by mslizs
Impact NCLB had on Special Education
1
What impact did the NCLB Act have on special education?
Elizabeth Stankevicius
School of Education, Liberty University
Author Note
Elizabeth Stankevicius
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elizabeth Stankevicius Email: estankevicius@liberty.edu
Impact NCLB had on Special Education
2
Abstract
The NCLB Act was passed in 2002 and the main goal of this was to have all students proficient in reading, math, and science by the 2013-2014 academic year. The NCLB Act had four education reform principles. This includes greater flexibility for school districts and states in the use of federal funds, emphasis on teaching methods that have been demonstrated to work, more choices for children and parents from disadvantaged backgrounds, and stronger accountability for results. This Act greatly increased federal regulation of state school systems. Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) for NCLB criteria. However, the NCLB Act did not consider the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and what
it had in place for those students. IDEA was in place to ensure that students with disabilities would receive a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) as well as be provided an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This paper looks at what impact the NCLB had on special education. Keywords:
NCLB, AYP, IDEA, IEP, FAPE
Impact NCLB had on Special Education
3
What impact did the NCLB Act have on special education?
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed in 2002 and was in effect until 2015. The purpose of NCLB was for this law to make sure that all students were making substantial Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The main goal was for all students to be at 100% proficiency by the end of the 2013-2014 academic year. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was originally the Education of Handicapped Children Act, was passed in 1975. IDEA was in place to ensure that students with disabilities would receive a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) as well as be provided an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). How would a law such as NCLB which expected all students to make the same progress yearly affect the education of students with disabilities who were receiving special education services?
Summary and Context
Eckes and Swando (2009), discussed in their article that components of the NCLB Act that clashed with IDEA. IDEA ensures that students get a free and appropriate education and have an IEP but NCLB expects all students to make AYP and be at 100% proficiency by a certain school year end. “The failure of the special education subgroup to make AYP occurs
mainly because the subgroup is expected to maintain the exact same proficiency levels as their general education peers—a standard that has proved to be problematic because special education students often start out with lower average test scores than general education students” (Eckes & Swando, 2009, p. 29).
One of the other goals of the NCLB Act was to raise the qualifications teachers needed to be able to teach. On the surface, this is not necessarily a bad thing to want to have in place. Having highly qualified teachers in the classroom would obviously be a good thing to have in place. Let us look at it in a different light for those teachers who were already in the field. This does not
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help