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No Child Left Behind Revisited

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A decade ago the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act was renamed No Child Left Behind. Looking back, well known educators share their perspectives in Education Week.

Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford, believes the Act focused on boosting test scores and narrowing curriculum, but helped us understand the severity of achievement gaps.

Eugene Hickok, then deputy federal secretary of education, says the Act focused national attention on results, not spending. The Council for Exceptional Children's Lindsey Jones mentions the exclusion of students with disabilities and Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust, points out that great inequities in our public education system were revealed.

Former Mississippi Teacher of the Year Renee Moore argues that for many underserved student populations there has been an increase of "dropping out or being pushed out of the educational system into high school diploma mills, unemployment, welfare, and the prison industry."

In reauthorizing, Congress must serve this generation of kids better.

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