Chapter 15: The Ged as a Cover for School Pushout

Federal mandates that make funding contingent on test scores (like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top) put pressure on public schools, especially poor schools, to show improvements in student scores, no matter what it takes. Tests that are required for federal and state funding overshadow all other activities in schools, even though there is little evidence that the tests measure what they purport to measure, and practically no evidence that this kind of testing is pedagogically worthwhile (Elmore, 2006; Rebell & Wolff, 2008; Sunderman & Orfield, 2006).

The original promise for NCLB was not just increased accountability, but also to improve educational opportunities for low-income students and students of color, in order to close the achievement gap. However, the myriad political compromises needed to get the act passed resulted in a law that focuses on accountability, with no features or resources that will bring more educational opportunities to historically underresourced communities (Rebell & Wolff, 2008). Thus, schools that serve low income students and students of color are held accountable for meeting ambitious goals without the resources they need. Further, underresourced schools, for which federal funds comprise a larger percent of their school budget, are more likely to streamline instruction and curriculum in ways that they hope will ensure their viability. Under this schema, poor schools are disproportionately impacted by NCLB (see also Tuck, 2012a, p. 32).