Accountability, High Stakes Testing and no Child Left Behind

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the federal government increased its role in the reform of public education. The central feature of this movement is the use of standardized testing to raise student achievement, and particularly among minority and low-income disadvantaged students. Drawing on the slogan of the Children's Defense Fund, the NCLB Act is intended to reverse the “soft bigotry of low expectations” and include all children in efforts to achieve academic excellence. Additionally, the Act requires states to put in place procedures and policies to attract and retain “highly qualified” teachers in core subject matter areas. This chapter will focus on accountability and high stakes testing under NCLB, present arguments for and against the act, and report findings of recent research on standardized testing. The chapter concludes with a discussion of several aspects of NCLB that could produce a disparate impact on African American students in urban schools.