| Pieces in Series | 6 |
| Licensor | WUNC |
| Producer(s) | Emily Hanford, Ben Shapiro, Alison Jones, Deborah George |
| Formats | Limited Series |
| Topics | Education |
| Produced | January, 2008 |
| Added to PRX | January 21, 2008 |
Documentary series on the impact of NCLB and high stakes testing at one high school
http://wunc.org/programs/voices/special-put-to-the-test
"Put to the Test" was produced by North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC. A version of the series originally aired as an American RadioWorks documentary, Fall 2007.
Engaging, Sound Rich, Thoughtful
English
Six years ago, President Bush signed "No Child Left Behind." The law requires states to prove students are learning. Now schools across the country are using standardized tests to measure and quantify student progress. The goal is to get every student to pass the tests by the year 2014.
The clock is ticking, and so far the results are mixed. There?s evidence that elementary students are doing better on national tests in math, but little to show much improvement at the high school level. And some studies actually show a decline in reading skills since No Child Left Behind was passed. What?s going on? Are the tests helping? Is education getting better?
To look for answers, reporters from North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC teamed up with American RadioWorks, the documentary unit of American Public Media. They spent two years at Western Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina to observe up-close how ?No Child Left Behind? is working.
In this six part series, we follow two students and their teacher over the course of two school years to explore how standardized testing is changing schools, and education.
