No Child Left Behind Policy Essay

People have been used to announcements of various highly contagious diseases like the H1N1 influenza. A closer look at the course of the events shows that various public policies are instituted or strengthened to enhance control and mitigation of these diseases. What are the implications of these policies to a state like Georgia and Catoosa County in particular? On the same level there are various communication policies that have been instituted or even strengthened to enhance the human development especially with respect to freedom of speech and communication in general (Peterson & West (2003). Education has also been affected in a number of ways by various policies. This paper attempts to assess the impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind† policy on the state of Georgia with an emphasis on the Catoosa County. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† is a public policy that was established to enhance education and academic development in the United States across all the states. In Georgia, one of the effects of the policy was the formation of charter schools. These are institutions that receive public funding just like other public schools in the public schools system. However, they have considerable reliance on the support of the communities in Georgia. The impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ can therefore be looked at in several ways as a multifaceted aspect in the sense of a Georgia community perspective. Given their nature, it would help to look at the financial implications of this policy (Wood & Meier 2004). The fact that these schools have been built because of the policy explains, in part, the positive impact of the policy. Thus, if it can be put in terms of Cost-Benefit Analysis, it would not be difficult to conclude that the force of the positive impact (which is the general development acquired from the more established schools) overweighs what would be though of as a burden (Olivert 2007). These effects are felt throughout Georgia including Catoosa County as small a county as it might be. NCLB are the most recent standard based education reforms that have been legislated by the government towards the No child left behind policy in order to provide measurable goals and high standards to improve productivity of individuals through proper education. Assessment of basic skills is supposed to be conducted by the state to determine the grade standards of educating and funding of education for each student and the school as a whole (Peterson & West (2003). Congress increased funding to education after the inception of the No child Left behind policy by about 40% to make the course more practical and to reach a wider population of students. The local governments were seen to be lax, failing students leading to the intervention of the federal government to push the course for No child Left behind in education to address issues like teachers teaching areas distant from their profession and failure to cater for special education. . Another impact of the policy is on governance. With the implementation of the policy, there were various objectives and targets each community had to achieve. These objectives and targets could only be met if the mode of governance was transformed to match the requirements of the policy (Wood & Meier 2004). While assessing the problems facing the efficiency and effectiveness of the charter schools as a response to the ‘No Child Left Behind’, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation noted that there are problems in governance and financing. This is because it is important that those who are engaged in organizing the charter schools, for instance, must have good knowledge of realms of education and must also be equipped with knowledge in finance (Wright et al 2004). If this is not the case, then they must be in a position to put a team together which is proficient in both aspects. Failure to meet standards of fiscal management will automatically qualify a charter for closure. There has been increased accountability in public schools after the enactment of the NCLB that have in deed significantly contributed to the no child left behind Policy and to improve the standards of education. The students in a particular public school can move to a higher performing school if the assessment finds that they have undergone an adequate yearly progress in consecutive years (Olivert 2007). The policy therefore brings a direct economic connotation to Georgia given that the established charter schools rely on the local governance to survive. Even though there is an economic burden put on the local communities, the policy itself has enabled more development to be achieved. A number of notable ends come from the No child left behind policy including: students outcomes being linked to the state academic standards in regards to the policy framework, the performance of students and their progress in math and reading measured annually to determine if they are within the set standards, parents receive adequate information as this is required of the state and school district and a foundation for parental involvement in the district and state schools affairs is consequently laid (Wood & Meier 2004). Parental involvement is important in promoting proper administration of and improvement of schools as well as check against any misappropriation of funds The No Child left behind is in deed a noble course championed by former president Bush to facilitate the achievement or even surpass the achievement of state standards in line with the federal standards mathematics and reading in the coming decade. Progress is significant in this policy that actually measures the achievement by a state assessment. Reference: Peterson H. & West M. (2003). â€Å"No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability,† Brookings Institution Press: New York. Wood H. & Meier D. (2004). â€Å"Many children left behind: how the No Child Left behind Act is damaging our children and our schools,† Beacon Press: New York. Wright D et al. (2004). â€Å"No child left behind,† Harbor House Law Press: New York. Olivert D. (2007). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act: text, interpretation and changes. † Nova Publishers: New York.