Abstract
Due to the passage of the NCLB act, the phenomenology of the policy has caused teachers' instructional practices and educational values to change within the past ten years. As a result, the culture of a classroom and school has also changed. Teaching skills to prepare students for college and life has reverted into teaching skills to yield the best results on standardized tests. In addition, teachers are mandated to focus on those subjects emphasized and tested on the NCLB Act: English Language Arts and Mathematics. Teachers can no longer teach the knowledge, skills, and habits necessary to compete in college and life: Science, history, the performing arts, and etiquette. Therefore, there is a need for teachers to use culturally congruent, instructional pedagogy and curriculum to close the achievement gap among diverse, cultural, and ethnic populations. The purpose of this study is to understand how the implementation of the NCLB Act can be altered to best suit the needs of students. Through the lens of elementary teachers, (K-6th grade) current teaching practices and methods will be addressed. In addition, a reverse approach will be taken to identify those decisions that most affected teachers and their practices. The views of current and retired teachers will help to understand the history of the NCLB Act prior to and during its enactment. There are three sets of primary participants in this study: 1) Teachers prior to the NCLB Act who have taught for at least ten years; 2) teachers who have taught five years prior to the NCLB Act and five years after its passage; and 3) teachers who have taught only after the NCLB Act was passed. The participants of the study were selected in order to present different views of the current situation. It is important to understand the effects that an educational policy can have on an individual teacher; they are the ones who are mandated to implement the policies. As a result of conducting this research and reflecting upon the content of the interviews, I have come to the point of realization that not only is change necessary, but it will happen when the teacher or researchers maintain the focus and develop a critical pedagogy that is contradictory to the existing dominant paradigm. The dominant paradigm is based on the theory and practice that results in teachers accepting the utilization of the NCLB Act as a criteria to evaluate academic achievement. On the other hand, if they are focused on the utilization of a pedagogy described by Nieto and other researchers in Multicultural Education, then academic achievement can be accomplished. Not only can the educational process be changed, but ultimately the society as well.