Response to Harms: 

In Response to Sub Point A and B –

Standardized testing focuses on the most basic skills it integral to student learning. Procon.org, 2011. [“Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America,” August http://standardizedtests.procon.org/ ]

“Standardized tests are not narrowing the curriculum, rather they are focusing it on important basic skills all students need to master. According to a study in the Oct. 28, 2005, issue of the peer-reviewed Education Policy Analysis Archives, teachers in four Minnesota school districts said standardized testing had a positive impact, improving the quality of the curriculum while raising student achievement.”

A national standardized testing system like the one advocated in NCLB helps drive student achievement improvements. Procon.org, 2011.[“Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America,” August http://standardizedtests.procon.org/ ]

 “93% of studies have found student testing, including the use of large-scale, standardized tests, to have a "positive effect" on student achievement, according to a peer-reviewed, 100-year analysis of testing research completed in 2011 by testing scholar Richard P. Phel”

            In Response to Sub Point C –

Testing is important, but a focus on the learning process, not just the products, is integral to a successful education as well. Schraw, 2010. [Gregory, “No School Left Behind,” 2010; Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 74]

“School accountability initiatives have the potential to undermine student autonomy and direct a student’s focus toward performance goals. Previous research has identified several school improvement activities that enhance mastery goals and self-determination, which include emphasizing the process, rather than the products of learning, stressing that mistakes are a normal (and healthy) part of learning, and providing feedback that helps each student set and achieve ambitious mastery objective.”

Assessments serve a purpose for both teachers and evaluators in the education process and ensure students are learning and teachers are doing their jobs. Schraw, 2010. [Gregory, “No School Left Behind,” 2010; Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 74]

 “Educators should not forget, however, that school improvement, professional development, and motivational concerns are affected strongly by assessments and accountability decisions based on those assessments. Assessments may be used in two different ways, as assessments of learning and assessments for learning (Nichols & Berliner, 2007). Both uses are important, but it is fair to say that many educators find more utility in assessments for learning, whereas evaluators external to the classroom and school fond more utility in assessments of learning.”

Responses to Solvency –

1.  Testing is absolutely necessary to helping students gain the skills they need to further their education.

A system of testing along with a thorough data collection system in place is absolutely necessary to positively reform educational standards. Consiglio, 2009.[Anthony, “Nervous Laughter and The High Cost of Equality: Renewing “No Child Left Behind” Will Safeguard a Vibrant Federalism and a Path Toward Educational Excellence,” Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal; 2009, Issue 2, p. 369]

“But the implication that NCLB prevents true teaching reform is a straw man, however grounded it may be in current fiscal realities. Contrarily, the policy argument more often than not incorrectly implies that meaningful education reform can proceed without a basic system of rigorous testing and solid data collection in place.''' It also obscures the primary objective of equality behind NCLB's requirement that each state adopt uniform educational standards. A thorough system of assessment and accountability is the necessary basis alike of any sound education policy and of any equality measure.”

1.  Assessments are the only way to know how well students are doing in certain subjects, as well as if they are improving and becoming more knowledgeable.

Assessments and accountability are necessary benchmarks for students to make continued learning achievements. Schraw, 2010. [Gregory, “No School Left Behind,” 2010; Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 74]

“Student motivation is linked to assessment, accountability, and school improvement in many ways (Harlan & Crick, 2003). One aspect of student motivation is goal orientations (Anderman et al., 2010/this issue). Individuals with mastery goal orientations are more likely to believe that ability is malleable and can be changed through instruction. In contrast, individuals with performance goal orientations aremore likely to believe that ability is fixed and cannot be changed through instruction. Individuals with mastery orientation tend to engage more readily in challenging tasks as theytry to improve their skills, whereas those with performance goal orientations tend to engage only in those tasks that will demonstrate their competence.”

Disadvantages –

1.  There is no way to know how much money will be spent on the No Child Left Behind act.

With states control the assessments and progress rates, it is the states that ultimately control how much money they spend on NCLB. Consiglio, 2009.[Anthony, “Nervous Laughter and The High Cost of Equality: Renewing “No Child Left Behind” Will Safeguard a Vibrant Federalism and a Path Toward Educational Excellence,” Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal; 2009, Issue 2, p383]

Total federal appropriations under NCLB have covered only approximately one-third of some states' costs of compliance. Since the amounts originally authorized were only twice or less than twice the actual appropriations, it is clear that even the authorized amounts would have been insufficient to pay for compliance without the need for  states to incur costs of  their.  Because states design their own assessments and determine their own rates of progress, each state controls the cost of its program, as the Connecticut example demonstrates.