Amy Gurvis

         No Child Left Behind, instituted in 2002, is promoted by the Bush administration as ” the most sweeping reform of federal education policy in a generation.” On January 7th, 2008, President Bush remarked, “…I know No Child Left Behind has worked. And I believe this country needs to build upon the successes.” Similarly, according to a fact sheet put out by the White House regarding the No Child Left Behind Act, “NCLB is helping raise achievement for all kinds of children, in all kinds of schools, in every part of the country. Students are achieving record success…” In contrast, Oakland, CA middle school teacher Anthony Cody believes that “No Child Left Behind has cast a pall over the whole educational system. It has created unrealistic expectations and then punished us for not meeting them.” These accounts are representative of marked differences in reaction to NCLB as presented in formal policy speeches and documents prepared by the Bush administration and testimonials of teachers throughout the country.
         This paper examines these differences through the application of visual semiotics and a critical discourse analytic model that investigates the form and function of linguistic markers of manipulation in a corpus of Bush administration speeches, documents and visuals from the White House website. According to Van Dijk (2006), “…manipulation implies the exercise of a form of illegitimate influence by means of discourse; manipulators make others believe or do things that are in the best interest of the manipulator, and against the best interests of the manipulated.” My analysis explores how these texts are structured to persuade the public of the value of the No Child Left Behind Act, at the same time as those who are greatly affected by its implementation find little to favor within it. This study poses an interesting opportunity to analyze discourse and manipulation, while comparing our educational system’s well being with what the government may perceive as being in their and the public’s best interests.
          "Fact Sheet:No Child Left Behind." Welcome to the White House. 8 Jan. 2002. 20 Feb. 2008 <http://whitehouse.gov/news/releases>.
          "Fact Sheet:Six Years of Student Achievement Under No Child Left Behind." Welcome to the White House. 7 Jan. 2008. 20 Feb. 2008 <http://whitehouse.gov/news/releases>.
           "President Bush Discusses the No Child Left Behind Act." Welcome to the White House. 7 Jan. 2008. 20 Feb. 2008 <http://whitehouse.gov/news/releases>.
            "Teachers Take on NCLB: A look at NCLB - Part 1 of 2." youtube.com. 29 Jan. 2008. 19 Feb. 2008 <youtube.com>.
            Van Dijk, Teun A. 2006. Discourse and Manipulation. London: Sage.