The Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Diverse Learners.

The article presents an interview with professors Asa G. Hilliard III and Alba A. Ortiz. Hilliard rated the act based from its two major goals as low in terms of achievement and high in terms of intent. Ortiz thinks that one of the positive aspects of the law is that it has focused attention on groups that There is heightened interest in the achievement of diverse learners, in ensuring that administrators and teachers understand the implications of the law for racial and ethnic groups,and for limited-English proficient students, and in training to help educators understand these learners. Hilliard thinks that the act is falling short because the intent was actualized mainly through bureaucracy that made some assumptions based largely on academics more than anything else, rather than practitioners and especially successful practitioners. Meanwhile, Ortiz said that his greatest concerns is that the accountability provisions have narrowly defined how students progress is going to be measured, and assessment of outcomes is based on testing programs that have historically been shown to have limited validity or reliability for diverse populations and for students with disabilities. Teachers are required to provide effective instruction but without curricula that have been shown to be effective for diverse learners and without assessments that reflect the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of these students.