This site requires Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher / Mozilla-Compatible Browser, Macromedia Flash player, Adobe Acrobat Reader
Some exercises have external links to video and audio files which require one of the following media players:
Questions or comments? Please contact the editor, Denise Shanks
This exercise is designed to get students to understand federalism through the lens of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Students will not only explore the expanded federal role in education, but also how our federal system allows different states to implement those rules differently. They will also appreciate how this new law dramatically expanded the role of the federal government in education and how states have responded to this encroachment on their turf. (NCLB website-- http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml )
1. Read the introductory section from http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/nclb.parent.guide.heath.htm and explain how the national government is forcing states to comply with its educational goals. In other words, what would happen to states that refuse to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)?
2. Read the “Qualifications of Teachers” and Proficiency Testing of Children” sections. How must states show that its’ teachers are qualified and that its’ students are learning?
3. Read this letter by William Mathis at http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm . Is the national government paying the full cost of the No Child Left Behind law? Give an example from the section of the letter titled “ Estimating the National Costs of NCLB” to illustrate your answer.
4. Go to the Frontline website at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/state/
Click on the following states and discuss how they approach the requirements of the 2002 No Child Left Behind provisions: California, Montana, Missouri and Texas.
5. How does your state compare with these others?
6. Read this article from pbs.org : http://www.pbs.org/now/society/nclb.html and list one benefit of having the national government force states to use standardized testing to demonstrate student progress.
7. List one drawback of having the federal government selecting the approach of every state.
8. The authors of the text argue that a key issue of federalism is deciding when differences between states represent proper democratic decisions and when such differences represent inequalities that should not be tolerated. Is education an area that should be left to state control or should the national government play a larger role?
