‘No Child’ Law Is Not Closing a Racial Gap

On April 28, 2009 the New York Times published an article titled “‘No Child’ Law Is Not Closing a Racial Gap.” The article, based on data recently released, said that there has been an increase in test scores, but that increase has been equal for both whites and minorities. The article also talked about the improvement in test scores in the elementary to middle school range, specifically grades 3-8, but not in high school. It also commented on the affect of supplemental services to improve reading and math scores in the lower grades. There was acknowledgment given to the factor of culture and the pressure it places on student to not be too smart.

As a middle school science teacher I have seen my students reading and math scores gradually increase, however, their ability to perform on grade level for science has suffered as a result. I have students who had no science in elementary school because of the intense need to focus on math and reading. This drastically under prepares the students for high school science as many of the high school science teachers ask me what I teach the students because they come to their classrooms lacking essential skills. I think that while NCLB does benefit math and reading in the younger years of education, it must be re-evaluated at the high school level and content level to be more effective in closing the gap and producing well educated students.