Is NCLB Damaging Your Chances for College?

Source: Howell, Jessica S. "What Influences Students' Need ForRemediation In College? Evidence From California." Journal of HigherEducation 82.3 (2011): 292-318. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6Mar. 2015.

"In summary, those attributes of high school teachers that are potentially under public policymakers’ control have somewhat mixed influences on college remediation rates. Only math remediation need among CSU-bound students appears to be related to all three teacher quality measures that are explicitly discussed in the NCLB definition of a “highly qualified” teacher...English remediation need in college is not statistically related to high school teacher experience and is positively associated with higher teacher educational attainment..." (Howell 311).

“The provision of college remediation is costly; Breneman and Haarlow (1997) estimate the annual cost of remediation to CSU was more than $9 million in the mid-1990s and that estimate has grown to $30 million in 2001 and continues to grow with rising education costs (California Business for Education Excellence, 2005)” (Harlow 315).

"The most compelling evidence on the issue of teacher educational attainment from the analyses in this research indicates that the greater the proportion of teachers in a high school with a master’s degree, the lower the English remediation need by that school’s students in college" (Howell 318).

Source: “PBS Frontline: Learning Matters: Testing Our Schools.” Prod.and Ed. John D. Tulenko. Correspondent John Merrow. PBS. Youtube.com. 18 April 2012. Web. 10 March 2015. 

Note: Although much of this documentary does not explicitly mention how NCLB may damage kids' chances at higher education, it does reference the loss of several skills critical to college success that NCLB erodes: determination, abstract reasoning, and real-world problem solving skills. 

“Ted Sizer is a leader in education in reform at the worst these standardized tests provoke a sort of ‘drilling’ mentality…They teach a kind of cynicism. The message for life is ‘you want to get ahead in life? This is the way you jiggle the system’” (“PBS Frontline: Learning Matters”).

Speaking about a student who got a lower score on his test because he spent time figuring out that a certain problem actually had a mistake in it, math advisor Bill Kendall asks, “Being intelligent and tenacious [on these tests] can hurt you…Who would you rather hire?…do you want someone who can whip through a multiple choice test fast and bubble in the correct answers, or do you want someone…who is tenacious with problems and can come up with unusual, creative solutions?” (“PBS Frontline: Learning Matters”).

Math teacher Herbert Morris used to teach the calculation of distances by taking kids on field trips, presenting them with real-life problems to solve. Now he asks, “They would learn so much more actually doing [math in real life situations, but]…what good does it do to have a kid do a project, when he is not going to be tested on it?” (“PBS Frontline: Learning Matters”). 

Source: Trolian, Teniell L., andKristin S. Fouts. "No Child Left Behind: Implications For College StudentLearning." About Campus 16.3 (2011): 2-7. Academic SearchComplete. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

“According to Barry Thompson and holly Thornton, students often become accustomed to being told what to do and what to learn, and that learning is based on demonstrating mastery in solving problems. the responsibility students often feel early in their college career—responsibility for attending class, applying learned skills, and managing their own schedule—leaves many with a sense of transitional shock” (5).

“Judith Meece, Eric Anderman, and Lynley Anderman’s study on the effect of classroom motivation strategies on student learning showed that younger students learn most effectively when the academic environment emphasizes understanding and improving skills and knowledge. testing and evaluation lead to a performance-oriented classroom structure, which can be negatively related to intrinsic motivation, adaptive forms of coping in the presence of challenge or failure, and abstract processing of information” (5).

“Teachers have also expressed concerns about students becoming passive learners and task-oriented “do-ers” instead of self-directed learners, instead of lifelong learners and students expecting answers to be handed to them, rather than learning the methods to discover answers for themselves” (4).

“According to Barry Thompson and holly Thornton, students often become accustomed to being told what to do and what to learn, and that learning is based on demonstrating mastery in solving problems. the responsibility students often feel early in their college career—responsibility for attending class, applying learned skills, and managing their own schedule—leaves many with a sense of transitional shock” (5).