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implications in the school system. A perfect example of this is the fact that if a student fails the FCAT three times in a row they are moved up to the next grade level. This means that a third grader who has failed the test three times has been in the third grade for three years in a row trying to pass a test. After the third try they are moved on to the next grade level. Because of this, we now have children who should be in the eighth grade who are actually in the fifth grade. As a mother, I can tell you that there are tremendous differences between an eighth grader and a fifth grader. Do politicians know the term puberty?

The above example may also hold true for freshman students who should be seniors ready to take on the world and go to college. It is my fear that when some of these students reach that point they will just give up and not finish school. How much fun can it be to be eighteen-years-old and still be a freshman in High School. How devastating to a student's ego to be told that good grades and learning are not good enough, you must also now be a perfect test taker.

It is not only failing grade levels that are a negative aspect of the FCAT. Some school districts in Florida have deemed it mandatory to take an hour out of the day for students in High School to dedicate to an FCAT class. There is no credit offered for this class. It is just a class solely dedicated to the test. This, in my opinion, is a waste of an hour at school that the students could be using actually learning something. Students in the third grade learn absolutely no History or Social Studies until after the FCATs are over because there is no testing on those subjects. Teachers are actually forbidden to teach any history to any third grader.

It is this writer's opinion that the No Child Left Behind Act does not benefit the child in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it hurts them, more than any politician is willing to admit at this point. One can only guess at what the politicians would have to gain from this act that demoralizes children and stresses teachers and parents almost to the brink. I realize that the test scores determine how much money a school gets and that can be a good thing, but in the long run, when we hurt the children, then it really is a terrible thing. I feel that hindsight could be 20/20 when it comes to this act. The premise is simple but the reality is very different.

Learn more about this author, Kim L Kirsch.
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