I Teach Therefore I Can
George Bernard Shaw wrote that “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” Based on this statement, Shaw was either able to do everything or was a poor teacher. A teacher must be able to do and then teach it to others. In order to do this, a teacher must first obtain the skills him/herself. Teachers have the responsibility of providing their students with the skills necessary for success later in life, and the most essential skills are the ability to read and write.
As time evolves and technology advances, the skills necessary to get by in life have also progressed. As a result, it is no longer enough to be able to read and write on a basic level. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998
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Teachers are not only responsible for their own literacy but also for developing and promoting their students’ literacy. The National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association state that learning to read and write is imperative for success and the critical period for this development occurs from birth to age eight (National Association for the Education of Young Children). Knowing this, a teacher must first assess a child’s ability to read and write and then help the child to progress and develop his/her literacy skills. Since literacy in today’s society includes high reading comprehension and analysis and the demand for interaction via written communication such as e-mails and faxes, students must demonstrate their competent literacy skills (National Association for the Education of Young Children).
Since education is driven by politics and public policy, teachers need to be familiar with the current standards and legislation mandating education at that time. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) holds teachers accountable for their students’ progress and requires schools to show improvement in their students’ abilities here and now. Without knowing and understanding all that NCLB entails and ensuring their students are ready for the mandatory standardized assessments, a teacher can find
After the No-Child-Left-Behind (NCLB) bill was introduced by the Bush administration in 2001, the use of standardized tests skyrocketed because all schools in the country were required to assess students using these tests to evaluate the student, teacher and school’s performance. A standardized test is any examination that is administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner (Popham 8). The use of these tests have not improved education in the United States because teachers teach to the test, which means that they only focus on what is going to be on the exam and do not spend time on other material; tests like the SAT which evaluate the student solely on the outcome of the test and upon the score the student is placed where “appropriate”; and that one assessment is not enough to evaluate students, teachers, principals
Times are changing. Literacy is not only a problem that the English teacher has to deal with. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write (Oxford Dictionaries). However, you have to use different skills to read a novel than you do with reading a science question. So it only makes that literacy should be taught in different ways for each different subject. It does a student no good to be able to physically read a science question but have no idea what it’s asking for. The last five years have seen unprecedented attention given to the literacy achievement of adolescents in secondary schools in the United States. Spurred by the release of flat or declining reading scores on national tests. (Donahue, Daane & Grigg, 2003). This could be easily linked to a lack of literacy techniques being taught in schools.
Learning to read and write as a child is an experience that all can relate to. The average child learns to read and write at the early ages of three and four. Developing literacy at an early age is crucial to academic development as well as to performance in life. Early development can be just what a child needs to stimulate their minds, which in turn is assisting in the evolution of their future. The early and latter stages of development in a child’s literacy journey are the makings for their reading and writing skills. It also plays part in their analysis of obstacles as well as their developed or problematic literacy future. A child
When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law in 2002, the legislation had one goal-- to improve educational equity for all students in the United States by implementing standards for student achievement and school district and teacher performance. Before the No Child Left Behind Act, the program of study for most schools was developed and implemented by individual states and local communities’ school boards. Proponents of the NCLB believed that lax oversight and lack of measurable standards by state and local communities was leading to the failure of the education system and required federal government intervention to correct. At the time, the Act seemed to be what the American educational system
Competence and confidence in literacy, including competence in the three major areas, reading, writing, speaking and listening, are essential for progress in all areas of the curriculum. To broaden and enhance children’s literacy skills, opportunities need to be given by providing them with a wide range of different contexts in which to use and practice there skills. With reference to the aims of the Primary Framework for Literacy ‘To support and
The aims and importance of learning provisions for literacy development is to give children the opportunities and possibilities open to them and benefit from more effective teaching of reading and to marrow the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. The importance of reading is at the heart of this insight as pupils that can read are more likely to have a more positive future. They will be more likely to do well in school and get good qualifications and have a rewarding career later on. Compared to those who are constantly at a disadvantage.
Since the No Child Left Behind Act, also known as NCLB, has come into effect, it has caused some concerns with teachers and parents alike on how well it is working for the students. There have been issues that have arisen that needed to be addressed and instead been overlooked when a child does not meet with the school’s standardized testing and is pushed onto the next grade level.
The American public educational system is filled with an assortment of problems. Most students are graduating with less knowledge and capability than similar students in other industrialized countries. Classroom disruptions are surprisingly common, and in some classrooms, nearly continuous. The public education system is having difficulty adjusting to the no child left behind act. The No Child Left Behind(NCLB) is a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of American’s schools.
Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive
It has been shown that if students start at an early age to learn to read and write their learning in all content areas will improve. It is for this reason it is important for secondary teachers to understand early reading acquisition as to incorporate those reading skills in lesson to accommodate students with reading deficiencies. Educators can understand the building blocks of how a student learns and develops into a successful reader in order to help them develop their reading skills. If teachers understand reading acquisition they can better assess their students’ reading level. As such, the role of professional judgement in understanding the selection of reading or writing material is to know their students reading needs and select materials
Curriculum, assessment, accountability and quality are all key principles of NCLB. No Child Left Behind is a continued effort to support the education of the economically disadvantaged and handicapped students in America, as well as setting high expectations for all students. The intertwining of these principles are evident within the education system today. Curriculum that is aligned correctly and is assessed appropriately by highly qualified teachers, makes a significant difference in student performance and is reflected in accountability ratings of school districts, students, teachers, paraprofessional, and administrators across the country.
No Child Left Behind (hereafter NCLB) was one of the largest and most comprehensive reauthorizations of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, created to “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.” That this legislation was monumentally important for the American education system, few researchers would dare to disagree — but this is where most agreement ends. Over 70,000 articles have been written on this legislation and it is easy to drown in the myriad of researched opinions on its successes and failures; there are almost as many opinions as there are articles on this topic.
The article discusses how teachers are discovering that the No Child Left Behind idea is flawed, developmentally unfitting, lacking funding, and leaving more students, educators, and schools behind before the bill was passed. Later the article presents a short history about educational testing, investigates the argument of teaching to the test, and focuses on subgroups of school populations that are negatively affected by No Child Left Behind bill, distinctively students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, minorities, second-language learners, and students with special needs.
In what follows I first provide a history and explanation of the NCLB act. As well as the thinking behind this piece of legislation. Then, I show how the NCLB’s rules and standardized testing are destructive to teaching. Finally, I argue how the act is leading to the overall downfall of our educational system.
Since the adoption of the No Child Left Behind laws of 2002 states, school districts, and teachers have been on a mission to find ways to make instruction and learning meaningful to students while meeting the goals set forth by the national and state legislatures while closing the achievement gap and making sure students are successful. Over the years, many new trends as to how to close the achievement gap have flourished. With these trends come numerous amounts of research proving why a particular new teaching methodology is going to work over another; states, school districts, and school sites are at the mercy of these trends to help close the gap to meet the national educational goal of all students must be successful in school. The notion NCLB brings