The bus picks you up and you are now presented with two options, keep riding and go to school, or hop off at the next stop and join your rebellious friends. It is the choices and influences similar to this scenario that has created what is called the achievement gap. The achievement gap is a separation between where a student “should be” and where a student is in respect to their academic achievement. This is based off of class attendance, college acceptance rates, and high school dropout rates. Simple literacy tests along with other test scores assist in gauging the basic levels of achievement. Are U.S. schools failing? Simply, no. The U.S. is failing. The U.S. is failing economically, socially, and morally. How is this shown? …show more content…
This tree now has so much potential; producing buds that will make flowers, and eventually producing a juicy, crunchy apple. Ideally, the life of an apple would follow this life cycle and go on to make more seed, yet, this is not always the case. Misformed, bruised, infected, and in many cases, uncompleted; an apple will not reach certain stages of its life. It takes outside factors to succeed.
A more detailed breakdown of each layer of the the school system can help analyze which aspects are failing. Starting with the teachers, the nutrients in the soil; the seed is introduced to the first factor affecting student learning and progress. The No Child Left Behind initiative has accumulated some bugs. Rather than improving opportunities so that each child is receiving equal chances to close the achievement gap, the outcomes of sometimes misrepresented data is being monitored and recorded. This means, while the purpose of educational proposals are to close the achievement gap, this act had unexpected opposite effects. This is due in part to the way schools are graded, which is based off results of standardized test scores and similar tracking identifications like attendance (Educators Share, 2015). After the results are reported to the state, a grade is administered to the school district and teachers. If proficiency is not met for two years, changes can be made at
Following the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, US students have slipped from being ranked 18th in math in 2000 to 27th in 2012, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading. Standardized tests are unfair and discriminatory against non-English speakers and students with special needs [E. (2011, January 01)]. A 2007 national study conducted by the Center for Education policy revealed that since 2001, 44% of school districts had reduced the time spent on science, social studies and the arts by an estimate of 145 minutes per week in order to focus on reading and math while neglecting the other areas of study.
On the other hand, there is an argument that the education system provides positive qualities. Some students are actually improving in the classroom and on standardized tests. In her book, Christina Fisanick found that “In Wisconsin, 87 percent of third-graders were reading at grade-level or above. This number was an all-time high, and a 13 percent increase over 2002 scores” (Fisanick, 17). Success for all is one of many purposes that come from the educational system. An education reform named No Child Left Behind signed in January of 2002 was to make sure all students were given the chance to improve. In other words, this act made educators work even harder to make sure all students were moving on and that no child was being left
“Shrinking state and local education budgets matched with the added pressure of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which sets rigid standards in reading and math that schools must achieve in order to receive federal funding, have created a new challenge for districts” (Van Harken).
A never-ending issue has loomed over the head of our nation-- education. According to the Institute of Education Sciences, 63.7% of American students are below proficient in reading and 65.7% in math. In order to improve educational standards and increase student achievement, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) in 2002. Designed to increase the role of the federal government in education, it holds schools accountable based on how students perform on standardized tests. Statistics show that the average student completes about 110-115 mandatory, standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and end of twelfth grade (an average of eight tests per year). Standardized testing utilizes
The author's main point in this article was focusing on the problems of standardized testing in the school system. Ronald Roach states how in the past decade since the no child left behind program was established that there was no sufficient gains in the overall student math and reading scores. The author then goes on to explain how the Obama administration has been criticized over the issues of no child left behind program and how they are not effectively improving the program.
"Making Sure That Schools Measure Up." Education Week, vol. 36, no. 16, 4 Jan. 2017, pp. 18-20. EBSCOhost. PDF. In this periodical article, Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week, reflects on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an update to the K-12 education law, in the one year since it was passed in 2016. Klein discusses how the ESSA was designed to improve shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the previous version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Klein also examines concerns over greater flexibility given to states and districts regarding issues such as standardized test, school choice, marginalized students. The Obama administration wrote how the accountability portion of the law would work, allowing states to pick their own goals, both a long term goal and short term goals. These goals must address students’ proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation
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.
During President Bush’s term, government became aware that American schooling needed major improvement. There was a need of a law which would improve the system while using scores to evaluate students as well as their teachers. "The fundamental principle of this bill is that every child can learn, we expect every child to learn, and you must show us whether or not every child is learning," (Secretary, 2002) President George W. Bush said on Jan. 8, 2002, signing ceremony of No Child Left Behind Act. However, this one size fits all approach revealed not be resourceful. "The goals of No Child Left Behind, the predecessor of this law, were the right ones: High standards. Accountability. Closing the achievement gap, but in practice, it often fell short. It didn 't always consider the specific needs of each community. It led to too much testing during classroom time. It often forced schools and school districts into
The No Child left Behind Act was intended to close the achievement gap in elementary and secondary schools by allowing each and every student the opportunity to have the best education possible. This law was signed by George W. Bush in 2001 who described it as a law that will, “Ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education”(Neill 2). The No Child Left Behind Act was only intended to help the students, but it is clear, not only to teachers, parents, and professionals, that it is time for a reauthorized law; One that each and every student can benefit from. The achievement gap in America’s school systems still exists. For the sake of America’s future, the school system must make a change now or the future of this country will suffer.
The No Child Left Behind act emerged as a result of a massive increase in the costs of schools, while failing to show an improvement in their students performances. (Paterson 32) Since these standardized test have been in effect teachers have been judged off them. The problem is that
On the other hand, there is an argument that the education system provides positive qualities. Some students are actually improving in the classroom and on standardized tests. In her book, Christina Fisanick found that “In Wisconsin, 87 percent of third-graders were reading at grade-level or above. This number was an all-time high, and a 13 percent increase over 2002 scores” (Fisanick 17). Success for all is one of many purposes that come from the educational system. An education reform named No Child Left Behind signed in January of 2002 was to make sure all students were given the chance to improve. In other words, this act made educators work even harder to make sure all students were moving on and that no child was being left behind. If a parent or guardian is unsatisfied or
The idea that American schools are failing is not a new one, but it is an idea that is extremely widespread. There are constant news reports claiming that our schools are worse than ever and Congress has passed extensive legislation such as No Child Left behind in an attempt to fix the American educational system. Some people believe that American schools are not completely failing, but only failing for minority students. Reforms like mandatory busing, vouchers, charter schools, accountability, and high-stakes testing have been proposed to address these social inequalities. Despite the intentions of these policies, they have not always helped close the social inequality gap.
This article in the Times newspaper, points out problems and flaws with the 2002 U.S. No Child Left Behind educational legislation, which was designed to improve education in the U.S. Topics that are discussed include, teachers complaints that No Child Left Behind policy sets impossible standards and forces teachers to teach based on the test material, and how the bill originally came to life by the proposal of former U.S. president George W. Bush. The other topic
In 2002, then-president George W. Bush realized that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 had been under much controversy since it played an insignificant role in reconstructing the performance of learners. In order to fill the loopholes in the ESEA, congress implemented the No Child Left Behind Act, which increased the federal role in the educational system in the country. In hopes of bridging the performance gap that had existed for students of low socioeconomic status, the act increased the responsibility of educators and schools.Within this essay, I shall be focusing on how the No Child Left Behind Act does the opposite of what it claims to achieve. The systematic use of testing as a powerful mechanism for decision making
The No Child Left Behind Act should tremendously be re-examined and amended because the focus on the standardized tests decrease the quality of other subjects not on the tests, the tests are not an efficient tool to make certain that a student is receiving an excellent education and the tests create unnecessary stress for the students, teachers and administrators. The purpose of No Child Left Behind is to provide every student with the opportunity to receive a top-grade education. This is a great proposal to strive towards but, legislation plans on achieving this proposal by making schools responsible for their students’ proficiency and to measure their proficiency with the use of standardized tests. After the students take the