A poor child may be left behind

Public release date: 14-Jun-2005
Contact: Jill Yablonski
Journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net
781-388-8448
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates standardized testing of students in public schools. A study published in the latest issue of Psychological Science is one of the first and only to use a model of scientifically grounded research to test and show that students' poverty level and location do affect their performance on these high-stakes achievement tests, as it limits their access to qualified instructors. The research showed that highly-quality teachers, those the NCLB mandated as having a teaching license and certification in their subject area, have an effect on passing test scores. As the poverty level of a school's population grows, fewer highly qualified teachers are in the classroom. Additionally, students in large cities and rural areas have less access to qualified instructors compared to small urban and suburban areas.