Recent reports lamenting poor test scores seem to suggest returning to the good old days of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The New York Times recently led the way, reporting, Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a ‘Generation-Long Decline.’
Bring NCLB back? When did it leave? Isn’t it a big part of why public schools have problems and students do poorly?
There’s no mention of the failure of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the report. Why? Common Core had a huge impact on public education. The negative effects of NCLB and its Democratic counterpart, Race to the Top, along with CCSS, still haunt America’s public school students.
The authors make the mistake of focusing primarily on test scores and factors such as screen usage, while overlooking the inner workings of years-long, harmful policy effects. Both Jan Resseger and Diane Ravitch have described their concerns.
Here are some problems surrounding NCLB, what it did and continues to do:
Ignores Child Development
NCLB started kindergarten pressure, and now children jump a grade, according to a 2016 University of Virginia study. Teachers and parents repeatedly acknowledge how hard kindergarten has become. Seventy percent of children exhibit difficulties.
Where’s the reconsideration of expectations that are too high? When more is expected of children and development is ignored, some will still succeed, but many more will fail. Adding pressure to learn destroys the pleasure of learning. Children could shut down and may never get back their learning momentum.
Instead of raising expectations, there should be a stronger focus on child development at every age.
Pushes Heavy Phonics
NCLB still negatively affects how children are taught to read. Reading First (RF) is not the name but the Science of Reading (SOR) seems much the same with many of the same people profiting.
RF became the signature reading program, the cornerstone of No Child Left Behind. With a $6 billion price tag (a billion per year for six years), it promised “scientific proof.”
The claims were that every child would read by third grade. States had to apply for federal grants. Reading First centered around phonics. It became a scandal and the results showed that children learned decoding skills but did not do well with comprehension.
Now states sign on to the SOR with millions going to mostly unproven online programs. They don’t seem to be working well.
Makes Test Taking Punishing
For years, parents and teachers begged to reduce testing because they saw the harm in it. They fought back with United Opt Out, but it was hard to sustain such a fight.
It’s well understood that schools in lower socioeconomic areas are where students struggle the most. But tests shuttered those schools, forcing students into crowded conditions. Tests also were used to unfairly evaluate teacher performance. Cheating scandals dominated the news.
Still today, little consideration has been given to class sizes. Recess continues to be reduced or eliminated. Third grade continues to be the year of retention, proven to be harsh on children.
Ask parents who remove their students from public schools today, and my guess is many will say they hated testing. NCLB policies drove them out!
Destroys Teaching
NCLB has been unsupportive of professional teachers, raising their salaries, promoting alternative groups like Teach for America, Relay, and TNTP who rarely have teacher qualifications. All of these groups follow the plans of corporate school reformers and still impact public schooling.
While professional teachers had to jump through hoops to prove they were Highly Qualified, a ploy to disparage real teachers who already met certification requirements, those with five weeks of unclear training, stepped into classrooms pretending to be experts.
Currently, many well-meaning young people enter TFA out of college because they can not find jobs in their chosen careers. TFA looks good on resumes, like joining the Peace Corps, making America’s educational system look like a charity.
TFA locates mostly in public schools in lower economic areas. Some eventually lead school districts and state education programs!
Eliminates the Arts and More
With NCLB , the focus on raising standards and high stakes testing in reading and math drove the arts out, especially in lower socioeconomic schools. The arts were already often underfunded.
And that wasn’t all students lost.
Schools focused on meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) based on those reading and math tests, so their schools wouldn’t close. Elementary students received less instruction on subjects like geography, history, civics, and the sciences.
AYP is no longer used, but a 2024 Education Week report, Social Studies and Science Get Short Shrift in Elementary Schools. Why That Matters, show how students still overly focus on reading and often spend much less time on other valuable subjects.
Promotes Technology Over Teachers
NCLB initiated the push for “anytime, anyplace, anywhere learning,” and K-12 educational technology spending skyrocketed. In federal grants it’s annually estimated at $30 billion! Now the focus is on AI. NCLB is technology’s friend and pushed it’s use over teachers.
It’s reported that there are currently 700-800 online charter schools.
During the pandemic, school reformers initially seemed to think online learning would be a favorable byproduct of Covid (See:
Pricey online reading programs both to train teachers (replacing colleges of education?) and to instruct students continue to be gobbled up across the nation. Many are meant to teach the Science of Reading.
Many educators and parents have known about this push for technology in schools since NCLB for years.
Hurts the Democratic Party
Democrats were once the education party, but when Senator Edward M. Kennedy stood next to President George W. Bush as he signed NCLB, it marked the Democrats’ acceptance of Republican education policy.
One area Democrats opposed was school choice. Now they’re caving to that, too, even when they know parents who already send their children to private schools will get funds. Or that money often goes toward buying frivolous items. When school choice is on the ballot, it’s voted down.
Arne Duncan and the Democrats for Education Reform (DEFR) have embraced choice. Duncan blames public schools, as if he had nothing to do with how they are run today. Add New York Governor Kathy Hochul to that list.
Democrats complained about some corporate influence but signed on with others. They’ve hardly fought hard to protect children’s data; in fact, except for a few, they rarely discuss all the problems facing teachers and students.
Dems support charter schools, creating two systems, are fine with alternative fast-track teachers, and have done little to curb high-stakes standardized testing or the excessive funding for tech over the years.
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If only NCLB had worked to lift America’s democratic public schools and support public school teachers. Instead, it continues the focus on A Nation at Risk a manufactured crisis to end public schools.
Bring NCLB back? This is a ploy to continue to destroy public education. Don’t be fooled.
References
Miller, C.C., Paris, F. & Mervosh, S. (2026, May 26). Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a ‘Generation-Long Decline.’ The New York Times, Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/upshot/test-scores-school-districts-us.html.
Schwartz, S. (2024). Social Studies and Science Get Short Shrift in Elementary Schools. Why That Matters. Education Week, 43(20).
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