<Li> Forty - three states and the District of Columbia either improved academically or held steady in all categories (fourth - and eighth - grade reading and fourth - and eighth - grade math). </Li> <P> These statistics compare 2005 with 2000 when No Child Left Behind didn't even take effect until 2003 . They point out that the increase in scores between 2000 and 2003 was roughly the same as the increase between 2003 and 2005, which calls into question how any increase can be attributed to No Child Left Behind . They also argue that some of the subgroups are cherry - picked--that in other subgroups scores remained the same or fell . Also, the makers of the standardized tests have been blamed for making the tests easier so that it is easier for schools to sufficiently improve . </P> <P> Education researchers Thomas Dee and Brian Jacob argue that NCLB showed statistically significant positive impact on students' performance on 4th - grade math exams (equal to two - thirds of a year's worth of growth), smaller and statistically insignificant improvements in 8th - grade math exam performance, and no discernible improvement in reading performance . </P> <P> Critics argue that the focus on standardized testing (all students in a state take the same test under the same conditions) encourages teachers to teach a narrow subset of skills that the school believes increases test performance, rather than achieve in - depth understanding of the overall curriculum . For example, a teacher who knows that all questions on a math test are simple addition problems (e.g., What is 2 + 3?) might not invest any class time on the practical applications of addition, to leave more time for the material the test assesses . This is colloquially referred to as "teaching to the test ." "Teaching to the test" has been observed to raise test scores, though not as much as other teaching techniques . </P>

What was the purpose of the no child left behind act